2025-07-14 - BBI

The Best of the BBI with Chuck Culpepper of the Washington Post, Cats' Pause founder Oscar Combs and UK commit Matt Ponatoski...

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Stick Gabriel taking a little bit of time off,
so we thought we would replace some of the best
interviews from over the last several months. Please enjoy the
best of the Big Blue. Insider joining us now is
a longtime friend of the show. He is a documentary
narrator for an award winning documentary, but probably best known
as a sports writer. He is Chuck Goulfeffer of The

(00:22):
Washington Post, formerly The Hero Leader and helped us narrate
the special we did on the ninety eight Championship team,
and is a world traveler himself. Chuck, how are you.
How's your passport?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (00:37):
I would say the pages have been a little too
blank for me of late. Oh really need a few stamps.
You know, not everybody gives those stamps anymore. They just
wave you on through. But I would say, yeah, I
would say, I'm kind of aching to go somewhere.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
I don't know where or when I have a friend
you really out to medium. He's a New York City
Police officer intelligence officer, but he's a huge UK fan
living in NYC, and his goal is to visit every
country in the world. You guys could could have some
interesting conversations I'm getting is there anywhere in particular, uh

(01:14):
that you want to go next or that that you
haven't visited that you'd like to see.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
I always try to keep a list of of say
three most most wished to see places you know at
any time, And then Vietnam is one. I've been to Cambodia,
but I haven't been to uh to Vietnam, which is
next to it, and probably Lows is next to that
for a long time eleven and was on the list

(01:39):
and it still is. But it's it's difficult now, yeh uh,
you know it. And and I've got what else? I've
got Peru on the list, and I've got Tnisia on
the list. Wow.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well, And obviously work takes you around the world and
across the country, and one of the things that you cover,
of course college athletics and the house settlement and as
you know, kind of opened another doorway, another passage. But
it's just incredible of late, with the nil to transfer
portaland all, just how much of an uproar it seems

(02:15):
there is to college athletics. Now, do you fear for
college sports?

Speaker 3 (02:20):
I would say so far, I actually don't. I actually
I did four of the games in the football playoffs
last year and so, and that just seemed, you know,
as full as ever and has watched as maybe a
little more watched as I recall, you know, who, I

(02:41):
think about a lot when I if I would talk,
I think about a lot. I think about Kentucky fans really.
Of course, of course I was there for a while.
I have dear friends who are Kentucky fans, and but
one of the things to me that was always sort
of a hallmark of Kentucky fans was this idea that
you would get to know a player across his four years,

(03:05):
and that would be his or her four years with
the women's game grown as it has so, and I
always found Kentucky fans really they enjoyed that almost as
if it were their kid in some ways, you know.
And they enjoyed seeing they know enough about the game,
more than enough about the game to see where the

(03:26):
areas of development are and to kind of thrill in those.
And nobody anywhere really gets that that much anymore, right,
because it's just quickly up and gone, you know, And
so you don't I have one Kentucky fan. I'm a
good friend with and she said that there's one player
who's in the NBA. I forgot which, but she said,
I actually don't have any memories of him playing for Kentucky.

(03:50):
It was just one season, and you know, and so
she's I can't summon any memories of him playing. So
yet when I think about how it might wither across
the century, maybe I think about that.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
And that's fair.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, well, fans will fans sour on the kind of
the the revolving Dora.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yeah, I remember, this isn't kind of an odd thing.
But when we were talking to Randolph Morris, who I
don't think stayed all four years, but he had been
there a couple of years, and we were just kind
of informally talking to him, and he mentioned my name
and and this goes way back to the Tubby Smith there,
but I thought I was surprised that that guy knew

(04:34):
my name, because even then players were starting to come
and go. And now, you know, I've I've all the
NBA kids that that that Tubby's or the Tubby that
Calipari's got. Right now, I had spoken to each and
every one of those guys. I guarantee none of them
not that it matters, but none of them have any
idea who I am or who Most of the guys

(04:55):
gonna beat what they're and they might know our faces,
but and it's it's not that big a deal personally,
but it underscores what you just said. You know that
they they it was just a way station, wasn't it
like seeing it was just a stop on the way.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
And now everywhere is kind of like that, Yeah, you know,
these remade rosters, And now I get kind of a
kick out of out of the idea that people build
rosters on the fly, and I don't kind of don't
know how they do it. And one way this has
struck me in the past week is this Urry State baseball.

(05:30):
I've been studying that roster a lot of I think
it's you know, there were I think ten players on
it who were on junior college rosters last year, ten
different junior college rosters, and then others who were on
junior college rosters and years before that or community college.
And so I'm kind of amazed that people can have

(05:52):
this cohesion. And as the Murray State players are saying
as they got to Omaha this week, you know, like
love and trust that we have for each other and
that it's all built rapidly. That kind of floors me
in some way.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, well, as you know, Kentucky made the World Series
last year for the first time, with many many kids
who had come in through the portal. Although you probably
can remember back to when when you were a younger
sports writer, it was not that big a deal for
kids to transfer in and out win baseball because back
in the day you didn't have to sit for a

(06:26):
year when you transferred pre portal. But even when basketball
and football players had to sit for quite a while,
baseball players did not. And of course, with eleven point
seven scholarships, kids came and went all the time. But
now with the new rules and a portal, it's probably
doubled the amount of movement. But Kentucky's team last year,

(06:46):
a lot of those kids had come in chucked the
year before and they won a regional, fell short, lost
to Paul Skeens an LSU down in Baton Rouge. But boy,
a team to stay together for two years like that,
that's kind of an anomaly. And yeah, yeah, so for
them to get to Omah, yeah, it was a pleasant surprise,

(07:09):
but it was kind of unusual. But I don't know.
Maybe it's exactly exactly, Maybe it's the resilience of young people.
What did you think of the way Mark Pope threw
a team together last year and in the way that
that it, you know, went as far as it did.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
Well, I mean viewing it from a bit well from
a distance. And I but I did go into see
him one day last spring spring of twenty four that
had not seen him in twenty eight years, I think
at that point, and he said when I walked in,
he said, I thought you would I thought you would

(07:48):
look older. So that was really nice, you know, So
so I'm on board totally. But I thought it was
the whole thing was so enchanting from Afar because it
was I was, as was everyone else, just absolutely floored
by the intro press conference, so to speak, which told

(08:12):
a lot. I think there was a lot, both obvious
and hidden in that dumb in that day that after
that Sunday. But I thought that through the years, I
mean it just through the years.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
And chanting was a great word because Kentucky fans they
were so ready for a change, and there was I thought,
what was great, a great element to the story. There
was such skepticism about Mark Pope. Even among fans, you
desperately wanted it to work. But of course, you know,

(08:47):
instant take people's out, terrible move and all that. What
was your reaction when you heard Kentucky had hired Pope?

Speaker 3 (08:55):
So I I always am skeptical of thiskepticism because I
I'll bring up a name, Dabo Sweeney. He gets hired
at Clemson mid season, and you know, I think it's
eight October. He takes over that job. I don't think
there's a soul in the entire nation. I think he

(09:16):
was interim. I think he had to he was. He
had to be, you know, kind of vetted across the
half of the season and re upped so and and
you know, look what went on there. And I just
that's one of the and there are more examples of that.
I think that whole idea that you want someone who's
a splashy hire has a lot of dent dents in

(09:40):
the in the concept. It's it's just I mean, maybe
even a lot of times you get someone based on
the splash who's who's really not at a good juncture
in their career to match with a certain place. And
I just think, uh, in this case, his match to
Kentucky worked in so very many ways, even though you know,

(10:02):
you could say his postseason coaching experience was light at
that time.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
Yeah, but a lot of that was about where he
was and who he was coaching, and yeah, he probably
should have gone further at BYU. But I just always
thought that the two elements people questioned, well, Kenny recruit, Well,
of course he's going to be a Kentucky, Sure he can't.
But number two, you know, Kenny winning the postseason. Well,
there's one way to find out, and they certainly did

(10:29):
it this year. He is Chuck Culpepper of the Washington
Post will come back with more in just a minute.
On The Big Blue Insider six thirty WLIP. It's Dick Gabriel.
Welcome back to the best of the Big Blue Insider.
We're talking with Chuck Culpepper of the Washington Post, formerly
with the Election and Hero Leader, and we were talking
about the hiring of Mark Pope and we'll get back
to football in a minute. But you mentioned the word splashy,

(10:51):
and you're absolutely right. People love splashy hires. But I
think Kentucky might be the best example of what can
and cannot work work in that Patino splashy Hire certainly worked,
Eddie Sutton splashy Hire disaster, Billy Gillespie splashy Higher disaster,
Tubby Smith not a splashy Hire. And at one point

(11:15):
Kentucky and wins and losses winning his program in the
country at that point. So it's it's all individual. You know,
you got to take everything on its own, merit, don't you.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
Yes, And it's it's match up in some way in timing. Yeah,
so much of its timing. You know, look at Joe
Gibbs in Washington, you know, three Super Bowls, but when
they when they brought him back later on, it's a
whole different scenario, whole different ownership. That was a crucial,
whole different situation, and it didn't work, you know, anywhere

(11:49):
near as well. So it's it's win does it happen
in a lot of cases, you know? And I just think,
you know, with so many places across the country to
the first press conference, which is kind of crazy. Okay,
nobody's ever wanted more than Kentucky did in April of

(12:09):
twenty twenty four. But and it was great fun. But
is it legit as a way of measuring what's going
to happen afterwards, and I don't think so really.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
For Mark Pope to succeed, he said, we understand the assignment,
of course, that is win national titles. He's going to
have to do it in a way that his own
coach didn't have to do, and that's with a never
changing roster. And you know you've got the Florida Atlantics
the San Diego States making the final four. I think

(12:39):
it's a greater challenge now, even with everything Pope has
going for him at Kentucky than it was for Patino.
Coaching acumen aside, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, yeah, And I think one thing you've just alluded
to is that I that I wonder about all the time,
which is, Okay, we this volatility and this ability of
people to transfer, and people always say that like in football,
for example, the SEC is just going to raid everywhere

(13:11):
that has you know, anybody right at a lower level
who's shown any promise, and that's going to harm the
lower levels. What I wonder though, is that is there
a benefit to the lower levels also by the fact
that the that it is so volatile and so nobody
can really there. It is a role the dice in
a lot of ways about chemistry and cohesion and it

(13:35):
maybe maybe it gives a little bit of a chance
to teams like that, you know. So, I think the
idea that we had that Final four and twenty three,
and the idea that we had TCU in a National
football title game right around that same time is to me, says, well,
wait a minute, maybe maybe there'll be benefit in the

(13:55):
volatility for smaller schools as well.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
I agree, and I hope you right. But I am
deathly afraid that the powers it'd be are going to
screw around. And I worry about March madness everything we
all know football drives a bus. I worry so much,
of course, being at Kentucky and in Kentucky about March
Madness and Chuck. I'm just scared of that they're gonna
screw that up and keep adding teams and adding teams,

(14:19):
and all they're doing is adding mediocre teams and mediocre games.
To me, what is one of, if not the greatest,
you know, two week sporting event in the world.

Speaker 3 (14:29):
Well, and it reminds me of the World Cup in
the sense that absolutely nobody seems to want this expansion. Yeah,
I've never met anybody who wants it, you know. And
it was the same with the World Cup and that
thing expanded. So yeah, you think you can grab more
money with it than you're going to do it, and

(14:51):
and yeah, and I think what you're saying too about
I mean, there's a scenario out there where the big
wigs will just kind of squeeze everybody y else out, even
the smaller versions of the big wigs will be squeezed out.
That's plausible too.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
When you started talking about how you worry about Kentucky fans,
I kind of flashed on what I always say is
I worry about the Eastern Kentucky's and the Murray States
and the Bellerman's and schools like that. And schools are
already dropping sports, and we're going to see more and
more of that, which means more opportunities for kids who
might have gone to school are going to go by
the wayside. And I blame me, my brethren, are those

(15:30):
of us in the media who sometimes forget that the
tail off and wags a dog, if you will, And
then we think about kids going on to the pros
when less than two percent across the board do that.
You know, I like covering baseball. I like covering I've
done volleyball for thirty years, you know, women's sports, and
I feel I fear that those are going to be

(15:52):
falling by the wayside all across the country, you know, yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
And is there some kind of structure in all of
that that, if it were to erode, might really erode
the fan bases, because not necessarily because they would they
frequented those games, but because I don't know, I think
about that in a sense of what just happened to

(16:18):
the PAC twelve in recent years, you know, yeah, And
you know, did that Okay? Those teams are all well
most most all went to other conferences and they're still
big and they're still playing. They still have opportunities, most
of them. But did that take something some kind of

(16:39):
charm away from from a whole region of the country
having its league there, And does that have like a
slow erosion effect. I don't see it so far. But
nobody likes that either. So but that could be just
those of us who've lived long enough to know that

(17:00):
the you know, the Rose Bowl was something magical every
every New Year's Day, and so but maybe maybe people
don't need that. I mean, that's what the next generations
will tell.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yeah, but if they've never experienced, they don't know how
much they would enjoy it. Just a couple of minutes
with Chuck colepepper Man. I worked in the old Southwest
Conference back in the early eighties when half that league
was on probation, and that was a conference. It was
one of the greatest conference. I'm literally that was one
of the greatest conferences in sports history. But it pulled
itself to pieces because there were such backstabbers in that league.

(17:34):
And that's one thing, because of poor leadership among the presidents,
among the in the commissioner's office. But that's one thing.
You got to credit the SEC. It may be too
big now, you know, growing like the incredible Hulk, you know,
good for the SEC, but not good for college sports
in a lot of ways. But at least they got
a commissioner who is trying to do what's best for

(17:57):
those schools, and that's all you can expect, right. He
works for the SEC, not for the good greater good
of college athletics, right right.

Speaker 3 (18:06):
It kind of reminds me of the way, uh sort
of people always were talking about, well, Roger Goodell works
for the owners you know, in the NFL, and and
I think all that he's done to expand that whole
whole different thing because it's the only there are other leagues,
but it's the only major booming one, you know, And
so so you don't, don't you don't have that same

(18:28):
kind of wondering if if what the SEC is doing
is healthy for all. So but but yeah, from a
standpoint of that dreaded word coming up here brand, then yes, yes, uh,
there's no question that he's he's grown. It's so funny
to me, you know, I go to these press boxes.

(18:49):
I'm trying to think of where I went last year Texas, Texas,
A and M with one Bama Georgia at Tuscaloo signs.
And now we all the writers and always surround a commissioner.
You know, if if the commissioner is available before the game,
we're all around him listening to everything that he says.
You know, I'm like and I always strike think as like, wow,
the commissioner is like Brad Pitt now.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Or something, you know, right, what a what A what.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
A strange era?

Speaker 1 (19:19):
Yeah, Well, as I'll let you go. What's next for you? You're
you're a world traveler for work and for for pleasure.
But what's next for you?

Speaker 3 (19:29):
I have been working on uh, some horse things and
and and I've been working all this week on on
learning about Murray State baseball. So right up next is that?
So that's that's quite a I think everybody who doesn't
have a rooting interest would be rooting for them, or
maybe Coastal Carolina, but probably them.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
Yeah, Well, compared to Murray, Coastal is a fixture. And
having worked at that at Coastal Carolina's ballpark a couple times,
that's a modest at least when I was last there. Modest,
but not nearly as modest as Murray stage. So and
I've never been there, but I've seen the pictures. Anyway.

(20:10):
You can follow Chuck of course in the pages of
The Washington Post online and on Twitter or ex if
you will, at Chuck culpeper one. Thanks so much, great
talking to you again, you.

Speaker 3 (20:21):
Two, Dick, Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
By the way, if you listen to Tony Kornheiser's podcast
as I do, Chuck is a regular contributor there, you're
listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider. More
to come here on six thirty wlap. Hey, it's Dick
Gabriel and you're listening to the best of the Big
Blue Insider. I had a journalism professor way back in
the day tell me that very in his mind, and

(20:44):
I kind of agree with him, was the most overused
adjective in the English language. He said, it's generally become
an empty word. He said, it should be replaced if
you'll forgive me by damned. In other words, not a
very good show, a damn good show. But anyhow, we
hope it was a very good week for you. I

(21:05):
hope you had a great weekend as well, great week
for UK recruiters for the Big Blue Nation. And ordinarily
we would lead off a day like this talking about
Kentucky's latest basketball gold medal winner and that's Jasper Johnson
incoming freshmen. But recruiting news over the weekend, breaking news.

(21:27):
It was all over the internet. It was really interesting
because when a kid like this announces, it's just splattered
all over every social media site, especially in this neighborhood.
Because Matt Ponitowski of Cincinnati Mohler is actually from Sycamore Township,

(21:48):
which is forty minutes from Molar. He goes forty minutes
a day to get to high school, but he committed
to play both football and baseball at UK. They had
a little or actually a big event at the family
home last night. Lots of media coverage and why not.

(22:08):
This guy is the reigning Mister Ohio Football, Gatorade Ohio
Football High School Player of the Year quarterback on the
Molar football team. It's almost like something at a central casting.
He was also the Gatorade Ohio High School Baseball Player
of the Year as a shortstop and a pitcher. He

(22:31):
considered Alabama, Arkansas, Oregon, and Kentucky as his finalists. Had
more than obviously thirty or forty more than that offers,
but those were his last four. The final four Alabama, Arkansas, Oregon,
and Kentucky, and he chose the Wildcats primarily. I don't

(22:51):
know if it's primarily, but it was a big deal
for him that it's close to home and his family
could come see him play.

Speaker 4 (23:00):
Us a real moment because my family's been a big
part of it for a really long time now and
I don't know where I'd be without him, And that
was a big reason why Kentucky was the place for me,
because they can come watch me pretty much any saturdayday
they want to. You know, the other places, they were
really good places, and that's why I was really considering,

(23:20):
and this is why it took a pretty long time
to make a decision. But Kentucky's the right place for me.
It's about the people for.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
Me, and they had phenomenal people and as he mentioned
more than once, family really important to him and obviously
wants to play in the SEC, but also wants to
be able to play close enough. Imagine if he gone
to Oregon, and I love Oregon. My cousins live in Portland.
It's a great place, but a long way from home.
Mom and Dad would have had a tough time. Well,

(23:49):
now all they got to do is drop down to
election it and they probably will be doing that a
lot of course on football Saturdays, but also depending on
if he's a position player or a pitcher or both,
coming down to see him play baseball. And he talked
about why he wants to juggle to sports in college
as he is right now in high school.

Speaker 4 (24:10):
I need to compete for more than one season out
of the years, so if I can do it in
the fall, I need to. There's too much time in
between you know, fall to fall, so I need something
in the spring to do. So baseball comes and you know,
I'm ready to compete in the spring. So I think
people think it might be you know too much, but
it's what I signed up for and I'm ready to go.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
I like that. And you know, football players are busy
in the off season, but they're busy training, working out,
studying their playbook as well as their school books. But
he talked about being a competitor, and so he wants
to challenge himself with competition in the offseason. Not many

(24:49):
UK players have been able to do this successfully. He's
going to give it a shot, not just playing both sports,
but competing in the SEC in both football and now baseball.
And it is the toughest conference in America.

Speaker 4 (25:04):
To be honest with you, I think I'm built for it.
I've been doing it my whole life. And when I
think of myself as a player, I think I'm a
competitor and I love to compete. So I need to
compete for more than one season out of the year.
So if I can do it in the fall, I
need to. There's too much time in between, you know,
fall to fall, so I need something in the spring

(25:25):
to do. So baseball comes, and you know, I'm ready
to compete in the spring.

Speaker 5 (25:28):
So I think.

Speaker 4 (25:30):
People think it might be, you know, too much, but
it's what I signed up for and I'm ready to go,
and you know I'm going to put one hundred and
ten percent into it every day.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
Matt Ponatowski, who has one more year of high school ball,
but he'll be a wildcat, he says, coming up. Just
turned seventeen in March and is able to balance two
sports at an incredibly high level at a really good school.
They play good football and baseball. Obviously up in the

(26:00):
Cincinnati area, but this guy competed in the Elite eleven
finals out in California last week Manhattan Beach, California. Turned
a lot of heads, but he did that play in
high school football through four four thousand, two hundred plus
yards in twenty twenty four to fifty seven touchdowns at Molar,

(26:23):
two hundred and eighty one to four hundred and five
in passing attempts, and led Moler to the D one
state finals. They lost the game, but a fourteen to
two record overall state runners up. Not all he did
in baseball was hit four forty as a shortstop, four homer,
seven doubles, thirty eight runs batted in in the Greater

(26:45):
Catholic League, stole twelve bags on base percentage of five
thirty eight, and his team was a regional finalist. He
was the sixteen best player in his class according to
Baseball in America. Well, he is right now, and Prep
baseball ranks him. Baseball Ohio ranks him number one in

(27:08):
the state. So if you want to keep an eye
on him, Moller opens up pretty soon coming right at
US August twenty third against Princeton in West Claremont. And
keep in mind that this is part of kind of
a spurt in recruiting success for Kentucky. Could be coincidental,

(27:32):
could be. I don't know if it was by design
or what, but so much success since and this is
not a knock on him, Ben Samarrow left for Louisville.
I have no idea why. Again, could just be a coincidence,
but this was a great get for the Wildcats, both
football and basketball, and our football and baseball coming up

(27:54):
in our next hour, we're going to hear this young
man talk about the reaction and the response by Bush,
Hampden and Nick Menjeon. He talked to both after he
made his decision, and you can imagine how happy there were.
But he talked about the fact that, at least in
terms of baseball, they've been on this kid for two

(28:15):
or three years. So determination just dog it determination by
the Wildcats to land a big time, big name recruit.
And now look ahead. Could this be a quarterback who
wins the starting job and keeps it for two or

(28:35):
three years or more. It just hasn't happened at Kentucky.
Maybe Boldie will do that at some point. Maybe this
guy will be the heir apparent. And if you worry,
so many people when it comes to recruiting, they worry
about quarterbacks. They want their team to sign quarterbacks. And
I'm talking about UK fan. That's all I know, really,

(28:58):
But for decades that I've covered this program, people worry
about the quarterbacks. I don't care who gets the starting job.
They immediately worry about the backup. Maybe he's gonna work,
maybe he's gonna transfer. And in this day and age,
that's a legitimate worry. It's not been that much of
a warrior it has been in the past, because guys

(29:19):
have come in and transferred out, but now with a portal.
The guy didn't win the quarterback job. He's gone a
lot of times. I don't think that happens to this kid,
but because maybe because of baseball more than anything. But
it's funny how people do worry about the backup quarterbacks.
You can only play one. You need to have as

(29:42):
many as four on your roster for development, for depth
in case of injuries, but only one is gonna get
the majority of the snaps, the reps, the attention set
up in the front of the classroom in the football building.
So maybe it'll be this guy in a few years,
but a good get for the Wildcats. You're listening to

(30:04):
the Best of the Big Blue Insider. More to come
here on six thirty WLAP. It's Dick Gabriel. Welcome back
to the Best of the Big Blue Insider. This is
the time of year when we all look for things
to talk about, look for ways to fill time, fil airtime,
Phil Collin inches, things like that. So there are a
lot of lists and surveys and one man shows on

(30:26):
the interweb, and I've come across a couple of them.
One of them was the top twenty five best and
Worst college football stadium nicknames. This was posted by a
blogger called Big Name, Big Game Boomer. So right away, locally,
you look for the team you cover, the team you follow,

(30:48):
and under worst nicknames of a football stadium nicknames. Now
number two on the list was the UK was Kroger Fee.
That's not a nickname. See, I just you have to
throw these this entire It's fun to look at stuff
like this, but you have to disqualify. I think both

(31:11):
sides good and bad because this guy doesn't really grasp
what a nickname is, except for the fact that, all right,
number one is the Swamp at Florida. Okay, that's good.
Swamp's good. Number two for whatever reason, Central Florida it's
called apparently the bounce House, all right, that's fine. Sticking

(31:33):
with best nicknames, Pittsfield. Apparently it's called the big Ketchup
Bottle Heinzfield. Yeah, you know, Michigan, the Big House. That's
a traditionally good nickname. Death Valley at LSU, the Horseshoe
at Ohio State. That's easy, but again, so much of
it's tied into Ohio State tradition. Number seven in the

(31:53):
list between the hedges at Georgia. Yeah, I didn't know this.
I guess we'll find out from covering them in the
in the SEC now. But Oklahoma Stadium evidently is known
as the Palace on the Prairie. Fine. But number eight,
I'm sorry. Number nine UCLA, which plays home games in

(32:15):
the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. He says the stadium is
called the Granddaddy of the Mall. That's totally wrong. The
Rose Bowl game itself is known as the Granddaddy of
the Mall. So again, this is just a suspect list
on both sides. TCU evidently aiming Carter Stadium is known

(32:36):
as Hell's Halfacre. That's fine, I didn't know that. I
wouldn't call it that when I was down there. But
there are some other good ones. But he says, South
Carolina's stadium is called Willie B. Never heard that one.
He's got Utah rank number eighteenth among best nicknames. Okay,
here's the nickname Lavelle Edwards Stadium. No, right after that,

(33:00):
Texas A and m the twelfth Man. No, that is
not the nickname of their stadium. So you go back ohing.
By the way, it's kind of funny. But number twenty
five Tennessee. Saban's second home a real dig at Tennessee.
But of course that's not what the stadium is known

(33:21):
for down there among Tennessee fans. Now again on the
worst nicknames he's got South Florida. Number one is the
worst nickname, the Pirate Ship. I mean, what's so bad
about that? But Kentucky's second with Carogerfield, now, come on,
forget it. Rutgers Stadium, he claims, is called the birthplace

(33:42):
of college football. He said USC's home field, the Coliseum
is known as the Grand Old Lady. I've never heard that,
and if it is, yeah, that's not very good as well.
They're all kinds of what he calls the worst nicknames.
One of them, he's got Virginia Tech the Terror, if
indeed they call it that, yeah, that's not bad. Notre

(34:06):
Dame the house that Rockney built. You know, that's just
not current. So it's a list that somebody put together
trying to have some fun with it. But he did
a really, really bad job. In my humble opinion, CBK
report ranked the top thirty one and done's in college

(34:27):
basketball history and did not list any criteria. If it's
individual playing effort, individual skill set, that kind of stuff
thrills and chills maybe, But in terms of accomplishments, Anthony
Davis is under ranked. They've got him fifth, and I

(34:50):
hope it's a DoD to what he is a player
accomplished with his team, of course, won the National Championship.
He was SEC Defensive Player of the Air SEC player year,
went on to win a gold medal, was the most
valuable player in the Final four. He had the best
season in the history of college basketball. When you add

(35:13):
in the Olympic gold medal, it's going to be unmatched.
I don't think anybody will ever match that season for
the individual honors in the conference or the championships, won
both league tournament NCAAA. I don't know that anyone because
if you fold in the Olympic medal, will ever be
able to do that again? It all kind of team together, right,

(35:35):
But ahead of him on the Liz Zion Williamson and yeah,
he was a wrecking crew. But what do they win
any Did they win anything? No? He won nothing. Michael
Beasley of Kansas State great highlight player, didn't win anything.
Kevin Durant, Texas didn't even go to the Final four.
Great college player, Cooper Flag of Duke, number four, number six,

(35:57):
Bind Davis, Carmelo Anthony finishing up the top ten, Greg
odin Ohio State. I had a really nice one and
done career Kevin Love at UCLA, Chad Holmgren at Gonzaga,
and Marvin Bagley the third at Duke. But no criteria listed.

(36:19):
Is it accomplishments or individual play individual effort Because to
be quite honest, Davis was a tremendous defensive player by
the end of the year. He was never a dominant
offensive player. So I give him credit for putting Davis
as high as they did if you're just looking at

(36:40):
individual skills and effort. But in terms of what he
did and how he did it, I think he's the
best one and done in basketball history. Am I biased? Yeah?
But so be it. I mean, he did it and
he's got the resume to show for it. On the
Caitlin front, there's more and more talk about improving the

(37:03):
referees within the WNBA, which needs to happen. They've lost
control so many times in games involving Caitlin Clark, including
the one where she got poked in the eye by J. C.
Sheldon of the Sun and then later in the game,
Sheldon knocked to the ground by Sophie Cunningham. It's kind
of become Clark's personal enforcer. Six foot five, just came

(37:25):
over from Phoenix. Cunningham laid blame on the referees, but
she also kind of rejected the notion that she as
a player is first and foremost and enforcer.

Speaker 6 (37:39):
Oh, you know what, I'm just gonna be me. I
don't go in there trying to predetermine anything. You know,
I'm dialed in. I need to focus on hitting my shots,
making sure I'm executing the schemes right. I'm not focused
on the extra curricular activities. And you know what, during that,
it was just part of the game. I think the
rest had a lot to do with that. It was
a build up for a couple of years now of

(38:00):
them just not not protecting, you know, the star player
of the WNBA, and so at the end of the day,
I'm going to protect my teammates. That's what i do
and I'm a team player.

Speaker 7 (38:08):
So it's all good.

Speaker 1 (38:09):
And that's Sophie Cunningham, who, by the way, since that
little dust up in that game where she threw the
opposing player to the floor has picked up more than
a million followers on social media. You're listening to the
best of the Big New Insider. Our number two is
next here on six thirty w.

Speaker 8 (38:27):
Lapping doing.

Speaker 9 (39:25):
Anything to anything at that anthing.

Speaker 1 (39:54):
Do think? Hey, it's stick Gabriel. Welcome back to the

(40:27):
Big Blue Insider, our number two taking a little time off,
so please enjoy the best of the Big Blue Insider.
Joining us now is a longtime friend of the show,
the Oscar Combs. In terms of being on the air,
it's been a minute, you know. You and I had
lunch with a bunch of guys the other day. People
might have seen this on Twitter or Facebook. We were

(40:47):
posting pictures. We had a great kind of a reunion
of a lot of guys who worked in this market,
with the Ralph Acker and Jim Host and John Clay
and Tom Leach. That was a good time in lunch
the other day, wasn't it.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
It certainly was, Dick. I got to looking at the
picture the next thing. You know, that's one of those
pictures you never know if you'll be able to make
it again or not. Yeah, yeah, I was looking around
the table, and you know, there were several us in
their eighties, but the ones that weren't in their eighties
were definitely in their sixties and up. So but it's

(41:19):
a great crew and it's really great to see Tom Divine.
I had to see him in four or five years.
That's real old school there.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
Tom Divine, for you folks, was our UK radio network
engineer for years and years and was the chief engineer
at WBLK Radio and is retired now. But you know,
Ralph Hacker stays in touch with him, and so his
daughter drives him into town every once in a while
and we have a chance to sit down and and

(41:48):
just tell stories. And I got to think an oscar
like you it's looking at that picture and thought, you know,
think about the ball games and the players and the
coaches that everybody at the table witness. Kyle Macy was there,
Tom Leach because people forget they shouldn't. Kyle was part
of our radio network for you know, seven or eight years.
So just you know, thinking about the moments that we've

(42:10):
all witnessed throughout the history of not just UK sports
but Kentucky sports, dating back, you know to the fifties.
Pretty amazing.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
I think that crew Halvey Gazer could publish a book,
just each one writing one long chapter.

Speaker 1 (42:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
Yeah, you can get a lot of things. Even Joe Terry.
You know, now most people don't know who Joe Terry is,
but even saw right in the mix of that because
he was always involved with Ralph and Jim Host putting
things together.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
Financial attorney, Yeah yeah, and uh and like a lot
of attorneys basically you know, could tell a lot of stories,
but really can't.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
But uh, well, but you know if they say when
you're entire you can do what you want, well, that's true.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
That's true. Uh. And I bring that up really because, uh,
you you tweet a lot. You know, you're you're able
to stay right in the middle of things. But you
had a really good one the other day and you
wrote about the fact you tweeted about the fact that
if you look at where UK fans were, the big
moon Nation was maybe three or four years ago with

(43:17):
regard to where Kentucky football was and where Kentucky basketball was,
and now it's been a complete one eighty, which you
know speaks to the cycles of sports. But I think
with UK it's it's even more interesting because of the
long time struggles of UK football and you've been witnessed
to that. Uh, But it wasn't that long ago that

(43:38):
Mark Stoops was the toast of the town and the
UK basketball coach was was under fire. Interesting how quickly
it turns around.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
Isn't it? It doesn't take long, Vick. And it's a
matter of perception of fans, like they perceive you to
be this bad, or they perceive you to be going
to be this good. And we got a lot of
going into this season right here. And you know, no
one expected Stupents to have the last two years that
he had, but he had them. And you know, suits

(44:10):
has had a really good run here. And but I
think you also have to give it a lot of
the credit to Bitch Barnhart because he has done a
trific scheduling over the life ten fifteen years in football.
And you got to when you're playing eight SEC teams
a year out of twelve and then your one non

(44:31):
conference game that's loigal, which is you know, SEC caliber too,
and so you've got to navigate some of those things
to catch people down a little bit at the right time,
and it's not easy in Kentucky football now.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
And then you go back a little bit longer than
I do with Kentucky football, and I get a sense
that some of the younger fans tire of people like
you and me when they hear us say, well, it
was that long ago, and it really it kind of was,
but it wasn't that long ago that six or seven
wins was something to celebrate, and now people are unhappy

(45:08):
about that, you know. But as I said, people seem
to be tiring of that. I don't know if that's
fair or not, because I don't know about you, but
I don't think the seces been as tough as it
is now. This is the toughest has ever been. You know.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
Well, you know, we go back there day and we're
talking about a ten team league. Yeah, you know, and
back then we played five league games and eventually six
league games. But it was I think it was around
Jerry Clayburn's last year, which would have been around eighty
eight or eighty nine, that they went to six fleete games.

(45:43):
So you could schedule a little bit better. But it's
just the way that you know, the followed the trail
of the dollar and you'll get it, and they had
it game and you know, now they're talking about adding
a thirteenth game. Well, you know, with TV coming in
and athletes getting money, there's one goose. People don't want
to get shut out of this, and none of the

(46:03):
administrators coaches want to take any of their money out
of it. So if they go in and say we
got to play a thirteenth game and just say, okay,
we win, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Are you in favor of adding an SEC game?

Speaker 2 (46:20):
It depends on which hand I'm wearing today. I had
a Kentucky fan, Absolutely not. But you know it could
get to the one prince they say, Okay, we're going
to add another teach another game Kentucky or vander Belt,
or you don't want to play it, find find you
another conference, and we know that can't happen. So I

(46:43):
think it's going to happen where I want it to
or not. I think it makes Kentucky's challenge to both
qualify even tougher because we get to thirteen games, you
know you're gonna have to win at least seven, and
I think that number is gonna go update because I
think that the bow's going to start falling by the wayside,

(47:03):
and then you're not going to worry about six and
six teams getting into a boat.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
Well, see, I wonder about that because ESPN owns so
many of those bull games and they need the programming,
you know, which is why you're seeing teams with losing
records in ball games. Now.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
Yeah, I mean that's the short term of looking at it.
And if that, But the same time, they got to
make money out of it, you know, and I'm not
I mean sooner or later, I think ESPN then the
Disney's going to self destruct trying to gobble up the universe,
which they basically have. And it gets the point now

(47:42):
that maybe ninety percent of all the live television is
only ESPN or Disney, and I don't think that's good.
I really wish that a couple of other networks were
able to get a piece of a pie, but it
doesn't seem to be that way. I think CBS is
get a little bit on the Sports network starting this
coming year.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
Yeah, which is great. And I haven't a little bit
of an affinity. I've I've done some work for them,
but I do wonder, yeah, like you about ESPN, uh,
you know, and they've they've had those massive rounds of
layoffs because they've overspent on this and that. But Uh,
doing away with ball games I think would be major.
But you know, I think as long as the ratings

(48:23):
are there, But it's embarrassing to watch a ball game
and see a wide shot of the stadium and nobody's there,
you know.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
Yeah, I mean, and I think the fans will basically
get tam And hey, you and I have said you're ten
years ago, we're going to say, kent it's going to
go to eight consecutive boats and about the seventh when
they're going to be tired of it. We think people
have gotten tired of it.

Speaker 1 (48:48):
Yeah. I was talking to somebody over the weekend about
you know, what would constitute success for Kentucky, And you know,
we've started talking about the Music City Bowl. And I remember,
you know, and you do too. When they first went
to the Music City Bowl, it was great, you know,
when they won and or actually the first one they
went to they lost with Dusty Bonner and all them,

(49:09):
and when Whaling got hurt. But when Rich Brooks's team
went and then they went again, and people were like,
really again the Music City Bowl. People complained about going
to a ball game, and you and I covered that
game in nineteen seventy six when Kentucky beat Tennessee and
earned the Peach Bowl. You'd never think about it like that,
would you.

Speaker 2 (49:27):
Well, I'm glad you brought that up, because you know,
as long as you'll be bearing, you've got to go
back to Bear Bryant and his next to life season Kentucky,
which was nineteen fifty two. From fifty two to twenty five,
I think your capital Asian there is over a hyph
center and yet, well we're still yet to see anything

(49:51):
remotely stember seventy six and seventy seven, And I mean,
it's nice having ten three years. That said, but they
was all for niggling their notes. So you were playing
twelve games to get there. Yeah, and you can't compare
you who on those two ten win seasons were a
one in seventy seven?

Speaker 1 (50:12):
Nope, nope, And you can't compare any with all due respect,
any of those teams to that seventy seven team which
put so many guys in the NFL, and that was
it's still amazing that they lost one game. Talking to
Oscar Combs, a great one. He built the Cat's Pause.
You can still follow him on Twitter. Back in a
minute on six thirty WLAP. It's Dick Gabriel, Welcome back

(50:33):
to the best of the Big Blue Insider. We're talking
to the big old Oscar Combs and Oscar. Before the break,
you mentioned Bear Bryant, and I think you and I
have talked about this on the radio before, but I
did one to refresh people's memories. You called this to
my attention. I wrote about it on the website. I
have shared this information with other journalists. But when people

(50:54):
wonder why Kentucky football when the fortunes sagged after Bear
br I left, it wasn't just a lack of coaching.
It wasn't just a lack of facilities of a blend.
Collier was a great coach and they still fired him,
as you know. But Bear Bryant set in place a

(51:14):
recruiting policy that damaged Kentucky football for years to come.
I mean damaged. You pointed this out to me. Could
you give people a quick synopsis to that? And well,
how did you stumble across that?

Speaker 2 (51:31):
I'd hurried for years, but I couldn't put my finger
on anything. Definity and then an old timer and I
can't remember.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
Who it was.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
I'm ashamed of say because he needs to be given
credit for it. Tell me, Oscar I was working a
Harold later at the time, And don't you go back
and check the nineteenth six to Kentucky media at turn
the page three and read it. And this was next
to last year that Bright was here, not his life,

(52:02):
but next to last. And he announced that there was
so much cheating going in at college football recruiting that
he was going to uh flight up the light. He
was only going to recruit kids from Kentucky. He would
not recruit anyone from any other state unmaded they were
a relative of a Kentucky And uh. It only lasted

(52:26):
two years, the first year in black and call you,
but the damage had been done and they never recover
from that. A lot of people say that was his
way of torching the program going out. I don't believe that.
I think he was sincere uh that that he did it.
But I did not realize that there was that much
cheating among coaches going on in the early fifties.

Speaker 1 (52:52):
I had heard that Bear Bryan wasn't the leave fear either,
hadn't you, well.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
You know Pop called Kettle Black.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
Yeah, yeah, so, but yeah, you know, I was stunned
when you showed that to me. I've still got the
copy of it, and I thought it lasted more.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
Than I've got a couple of copies and myself, because
even when I tell it anybody, they don't believe it,
and they have to see the physical evidence.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
Yeah, and I thought it lasted more than a couple
of years. But the ripple effect lasted a long time,
didn't it.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
Yeah, yeah, blaking only had to see uh that the
year that come in it was the second year, and
they got it, but it didn't get the traction, you
know that. It was just there's something there that is
really hurting out. What Brian did. Most of these great players,
the honest He went up to the Atlantic Ocean and

(53:45):
got players come across the water from World War Two.
Oh yeah, it's mad to late forties.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
Yeah yeah, and you know.

Speaker 2 (53:54):
I won't say a majority one of the maturity, but
a great number of those players come out of Pennsylvania.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
Yeah. You know, you know this. You may have turned
me onto this, but there was a young recruit whose
brother was at the University of Kentucky, and they went
after and had a shot at Joe Namath, which I
thought it was fascinating.

Speaker 2 (54:16):
Yeah, I'd heard a little bit about that. I don't
know the whost Storby.

Speaker 1 (54:19):
Yeah, you're right, Yeah, I did a satellite interview with him.
He was made available by one of the networks and
I said, by the way, he said, yeah, yeah, I
looked at Kentucky. My brother Frank was there. Blah blah blah.
You know, but that would have been really interesting. We're
talking to Oscar Combs, who created the catch pause and
has been a fixture in UK sports many years, a
long time with the UK radio network and has seen

(54:43):
a lot in his days, and as we mentioned earlier,
tweeted about the fact that the shoes have kind of
switched out to the other feet, with the Kentucky basketball
coach again being celebrated and the Kentucky football coach being
under a bit of fire. Oscar, I think it's it's
interesting that Mark Steup's going to UK media. They're going

(55:03):
to SEC media days. It's kind of back to where
he started. You know, they're going to have to ask
him about fighting his way up and you know, being
on the hot now. Actually when he first got here,
there were no questions about being on the hot seat.
He may have to answer, probably will have to answer
a question or two about that. What do you think
is going to happen with them next week at SEC

(55:23):
Media Days.

Speaker 2 (55:25):
Well, you know, I've thought a lot about that, and
and twelve or thirteen years he's going on right now,
But we have ever dreamed that first time he was
at the podium and the STT Media Days that he
would be the fourth height paid coach in the antc
EX for ten years, making almost nine million dollars a year,

(55:51):
and then two years later he's on the hot seat. Yeah, yeah,
you know he's got a challenge this year. I think
he's ever had of this nature, and it is you're
looking at schedule where, in my opinion, if he wins
six games, he would be my coach of the Year

(56:12):
unless another coach went under feat. I look at it
right now and he's got to be three and one
after these first four games. Now, can he beat o
NS or can he beat South Carolina? If he loses
those two and they're two and two, you know they're
going to go on about six game losing streak and
then that one win on a game down in the schedule,

(56:35):
and that's not a sure thing. If you're on a
six game losing streak and the water will come out
early if they don't get off on the right foot.
And you know, I don't think anyone questions that. You know,
they don't have the depth or the talent that they
had have had the past five.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
Or six years.

Speaker 2 (56:56):
So you know, then you then you circle around the
things that have happened in the coaches room, coaches changes,
and you've heard all the jossenep Brown and everything. It's
just yeah, he's in s fox Hall almost made himself.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
Do you recall when you first started covering UK football
on a regular basis. Was it in the mid seventies
when you created the cast pause seventy six so that
was a glorious time to be covering Kentucky football.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
Yeah, instead, oh not just football. In seventy six, Kentucky
goes to n I shouldn't have even been there and
wanted right, Kentucky football goes to the Peach Brow and
Wednesday in seventy seven they go ten and one in
football and the basketball team wins the national Championship. That's
my first year. I wish God had retired right then.

Speaker 1 (57:56):
Yeah, it doesn't get much better back then, But how
much I asked you as I'm wondering. We talked about
the great great players on that seventy seventeen, but in general,
especially when Clayburn took over and they kind of backed
up towards mediocrity, how much better is SEC football in
general compared to that period in the seventies.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
Well, the numbers is the first thing that pops out
of it. Sixteen stead of ten. And when you had ten,
particularly once integration took over in the late sixties, her
Bang and Late Thought. There were poor games. Kentucky, Miss Cippy,

(58:42):
the city state, and Vanderbin's right, So you had the
other six, and usually one or two of them were,
you know, a little up and down. Alabama, LSU, Auburn
was always going to be up there, and then right
behind them, I guess you would say Georgia and Florida.
Florida wasn't very good for a long long time. Spurriyer

(59:03):
brought them out of it, so it wasn't it wasn't
you know, murders Row back then. But now you've got
all these into it, and the money attracted all of them.
I'm sure Oklahoma would rather be in the Big twelve, uh,
if they could be there with the other big boys.

(59:24):
But yeah, take Oklahoma. How would you feel if you're
an Oklahoma fan having all they they had in the
sixty seventies and eighties. Yeah, I mean Nebraska and Oklahoma
text and of first early on it was just Nebraska
and Oklahoma because you had the Big Eight and then
the Southwest Conference.

Speaker 1 (59:47):
Nebraska, I know a whole lot about Nebraskah. Yeah, Nebraska
and Oklahoma played in the greatest game ever.

Speaker 2 (59:55):
You know, I can member of the kids. I remember
the kids. That's the one game that ABC would curry
every year.

Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
That's right, that's right.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
And man, I mean it was you know, it was
from Kentucky.

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
Loyal yep, yep, but on a national scale so great.
But yeah, you know, things have changed for better and worse,
and as they change. Oscar Combs is there to document things.
You can follow him on Twitter or x at Wildcat News. Oscar,
thank you so much. We'll talk again soon.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
I hope pleasure. Dick, you have a good day.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
You're listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider.
More to come here on six point thirty w LAP.
It's Dick Gabriel. Welcome back to the Best of the
Big Blue Insider. Earlier you heard from Matt Ponatowski and
by the way, this was a courtesy of w LWTTV
up in Cincinnati. Talking about his decision is family's reaction

(01:00:48):
to him choosing Kentucky. This is the four star kid.
It was a great quarterback, great baseball player, is going
to try to play both. And somebody from one of
the TV stations up there asked him about the reaction
of the Kentucky coaches because he informed both the football
staff and the baseball staff that he would become a wildcat,

(01:01:09):
you know, and you forget about that. These kids have
to tell the other schools no thank you, which is
always tough. I've interviewed a lot of kids. You've talked
about how difficult that is because they build these relationships
over multiple years and maybe they changed their minds at
one point. So the tough thing is calling and saying
no thank you. But then they get to call the

(01:01:31):
happy coaches. And he talked about what it was like
when he made the phone.

Speaker 4 (01:01:35):
Call Coach Hampden. I don't know what he did on
the other side of the phone, but it sounded super
fun and I wanted to be a part of it.
He was super excited and he texted me and my
family after and it was kind of special for me
because he told me it was one of the better
days in his football career so far.

Speaker 5 (01:01:54):
So it was special for me to.

Speaker 4 (01:01:56):
You know, have that moment with him and Coach mene
was he was also super excited and Coach Menche kind
of just let me have the football, h have the
football kind of take over and let the baseball kind
of play out. I think, you know, he did his
part early in January back when I took my official visit,
and you know, he put on a phenomenal official visit,
and I think he trusted that what he did there

(01:02:19):
was going to carry over. And you know, once football,
you know, kind of took my recruiting by storm. Like
I think he was confident in it. So I don't
think he was too surprised. He was super excited at
also not as excited as Coach Hamden, but he was
super excited.

Speaker 1 (01:02:34):
You know, I left.

Speaker 4 (01:02:35):
How he runs Coach MINJ. Rudge's program, you know, is
through Christ. And you know, my family is big on
you know, everything happens for a reason, Everything happens through God.
So Coach Manje and Coach Hampden and coach Stoops who
have all Coach Couzy who's helped helped me through my recruitment. Uh,
you know, it's it's where I want to be. It's
it's where I feel, where I feel this family. I

(01:02:58):
feel it in Lexington with that staff. So I can't
thank them enough. They've been on me for you know,
almost two and a half three years now, and you
know it's been love since since the beginning, so you know,
showing love back and we'll make it to lection to
next year.

Speaker 1 (01:03:14):
So Bush Hampden gets the call initially for football. I
got to think he talked to Mark Stoops as well,
but Hampdon the OC, the quarterbacks coach, and yeah, much
happiness there. And then Nick Benji owned and Austin Kuzeno.
What a pickup for Nick Benji Owned's staff when he
had an opening. And Kuzino, of course the best defensive
center fielder in the history of UK baseball and they

(01:03:37):
have had some really good ones, but Austin won two
Gold Gloves, so you can't top that, and played pro
ball till injuries curtailed his career and he became a
scout for the Rays and then the Tigers won, you know,
or vice versa. But he'd been in lexing in a
lot and kept in touch with a program. So when

(01:03:57):
Nick had an opening, he and so did Kuzeno, and
so he was one of the guys to recruit this
young man. So yeah, I got to think he's smiling
a lot right now. But I talked to Austin during
the season about the fact that, you know, it is
so relentless scouting players as a college coach and recruiting,

(01:04:21):
and he told us, he said, during the College World
Series in Omaha, you know, when there were some downtime,
they're calling recruits from Omaha. That's a good thing. Hey,
we're at the College World Series. We think you can
help us get back here. But still you can't slow down.
So they landed a great one potentially. And Matt Ponatowski

(01:04:43):
also talked about the fact that once he decided what
he wanted to do, he said his family was more
nervous than he was. He was fine, No, I think.

Speaker 4 (01:04:53):
My family probably a little more nerves because they kind
of set this whole, you know, this great event up.
But for me, it kind of just came to me
one day. I made the decision. About last week, you know,
made twenty eight Fish State, and you know, I called
him and I knew I was going to make the
decision when it just came to me. And that day

(01:05:14):
it was like, Kentucky's the place to go. Kentucky's where
my heart is.

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
And after that it was.

Speaker 5 (01:05:19):
Kind of relief.

Speaker 4 (01:05:20):
It wasn't you know, pressure, like, oh, did I make
the right decision? It was relief. And you know that's
how I, you know, could tell myself it was the
right decision.

Speaker 1 (01:05:29):
And now Matt Tonatowski can go about enjoying his senior year,
try to get back to another high school football championship
game with Cincinnati Mohler, and get his baseball team beyond
the regional tournament in Cincinnati. So yeah, that was that
was a good get for the Wildcats, no question about that.
Mentioned earlier that Rick Barry is a guy who was

(01:05:52):
quite outspoken, a great player in both the ABA and
the NBA. Played his college ball at Miami and he
did bounce back and forth between the two pro leagues
back in the day. And by the way, he's the
only player to lead the NCAAA, the ABA, in the

(01:06:15):
NBA in scoring during a particular season He's the all
time ABA scoring leader. In a regular season, averaged thirty
and a half points per game, and he averaged thirty
three and a half points per game in postseason. And
he played in the NBA Finals for the Golden State

(01:06:36):
Warriors in nineteen seventy five and averaged thirty six and
a half points per game. That's a record in NBA history.
But might be best known for shooting free throws underhand,
and nobody wants to do that anymore. Shot eighty eight
percent in the ABA, ranks number one all time, ninety
percent in the NBA. That was best at his time

(01:07:00):
in retirement nineteen eighty one of the top fifty players
all time. And somebody asked him recently, what if you
were playing today? You know, he played back then for
the Warriors, for the Oakland Oaks, for the ABA, the
New York Nets in the ABA, the Rockets, the Warriors,

(01:07:22):
and he is quite outspoken. He's not a pleasant individual.
I met him, but that's part of his competitive nature.
And he talked about what it might be like if
he were playing today. I really loved his answer, you iverick.

Speaker 10 (01:07:39):
You guys could play today? Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:07:40):
If yeah, your mind. I stuidly must be on drugs.
I steal much better I.

Speaker 10 (01:07:43):
Would be if I was playing today, Seriously, if I
had no weightlifting lifting, if we had no straight coach,
no agility coach, we had no dieticians, we did everything,
we did nothing to help us. I'd be faster, stronger,
for you're more endurance, jumpire. I'd be so much better
basketball player today I was back when I played. The
officials to called it by the rule book. Stopped the traveling,

(01:08:04):
stopped the carrying the ball, stop the moving screens.

Speaker 1 (01:08:06):
Call the damn game according to the.

Speaker 10 (01:08:08):
Rule book, because players will adjust. If you're going to
allow him to get away with it, tell well, of
course I'll keep doing it. Call the game according to
the rule book.

Speaker 1 (01:08:16):
It's such an advantage.

Speaker 10 (01:08:17):
Let a guy carry the basketball or take an extra step,
that's ridiculous, you know, or a guy to move on offense.
I mean, what are you giving all this advantage to
guys and they're breaking the rules?

Speaker 1 (01:08:27):
Call the game according to the rule.

Speaker 10 (01:08:28):
I shorted the game a few years ago Chicago, Atlanta,
fifty nine moving screens weren't called fifty nine.

Speaker 1 (01:08:38):
That's insane.

Speaker 10 (01:08:39):
I can't even tell you how many times they carry
the ball, how many times they traveled with the ball,
It's pathetic. I mean for me to watch the scheme
the way I was taught how to play the game,
and to watch this and what they allow to let go,
it's an embarrassment.

Speaker 1 (01:08:53):
I love that answer. It's an absolute embarrassment. He's not wrong.
And you see clips every now and then on Instagram
or wherever of NBA athletes taking four steps, five steps
to get to the rim, never called, and it's just ridiculous.
Think about how much better he's right the NBA game

(01:09:16):
would be if they called the game by the rules.
And I'm not just talking about how they beat each
other up, but yeah, carrying the ball, traveling with the basketball,
if they call the game by the rules, it would
be incumbent upon these great athletes than they are to
be even better now if you listen closely to what

(01:09:39):
Barry's saying. It allows them to be sloppy and to
just basically do whatever they want and not hone their
own skills. This guy was so good and he would
beat my Kentucky Colonels oftentimes, or I'll play them even
if they're in a losing effort, and it just made

(01:10:01):
me so mad because he was so good. I got
mad the same way about Roger Brown of the Indiana Pacers.
It's almost like he was too good. It wasn't fair,
but that is so cool that he led, and nobody
will ever do it again. Of course, he led the NCAA,
the ABA, and the NBA in scoring at different times.

(01:10:24):
And he married a former UK assistant coach named Lynn Nornberg,
much younger than he, but she was I think she
might have been a GA here at Kentucky and we
played racquetball at each other. She's to kick my butt regularly,

(01:10:45):
but she went on to play to work for USA
Basketball in Colorado. That's where he lives. I believe they're
still married, and they had a son or you may
still be at the University of Florida, named Canyon. Of course,
he had other sons who played in the NBA by

(01:11:07):
his first wife, Brent Barry, John Berry, Drew Berry, Scooter Berry.
I don't know if Scooter ever played, but he and
Lynn had a son named Canyon. And Lynn played at
William and Mary by the way, and was the first
female athlete to have her jersey number retired. And while
she was working at Colorado Springs met Rick Berry. They

(01:11:31):
got married and I believe they are still hitched up. Next,
we'll go back to the moment that Mark Pope was
drafted and Rick Bettino was front and center in the
coverage for TNT. I'd forgotten about that. Also a memory
from Johnny Bench involving Mickey Mannel. It's a great story.
We're back in a minute, and you were listening to

(01:11:51):
the Best of the Big Blue Insider. It's Dick Gabriel.
Welcome back to the Best of the Big Blue Insider.
Scrolling through social media as one does, I came across
this clip. Some of you may have seen or heard
it recently, but somebody dug it out. It was from
TNT's coverage of the nineteen ninety six NBA Draft and

(01:12:15):
on the anchor desk with Ernie Johnson, well ahead of
course of the Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Johnson Show
or Kenny Smith Show way back in the day. Gosh,
that was a long time ago.

Speaker 3 (01:12:30):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
Nineteen ninety six anyhow, was Rick Patino, which was a
great get because he was at his height at Kentucky,
had just won a national title and had a team
full of guys it seemed they were going to be drafted,
and they were Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty. A
man named Mark Pope was drafted as well off that

(01:12:51):
Kentucky team. The kid who transferred in from Washington. The
coach out there got fired, Lynn Nance, so Mark looked
at another school. Was one of his finalists was Kentucky.
He had actually said no thank you to Rick Patino.
Signed with you Dub, which at the time was coached
by a former UK Joe Hall assistant and Lyn Nance.

(01:13:12):
Lynn Nance was the former FBI agent who jumped off
the bench in Bloomington and wanted to fight Bobby Knight
when Night cuff Joe b in the back of the head.
But he didn't get it done at U doubb. He
had been in Iowa as well for Iowa State. So
Mark transfers sits out a year at Kentucky you know,
practices with the team. Was on the ninety five team

(01:13:33):
the lost to NC North Carolina rather in the Elite eight,
and then part of the championship team. And his name
pops up on draft night. Ernie Johnson, Rick Patino, and
Hubie Brown and Rick had worked for hub Brown once
upon a time. Hubey, of course, he coached the Kentucky
Colonels to their only championship. So here's what it sounded

(01:13:56):
like back in nineteen ninety six on TNT.

Speaker 5 (01:14:00):
Well, let's go now to Rob Thorne, Indiana. With a
pick fifty second pick in the second.

Speaker 11 (01:14:04):
Round, number fifty two, the Indiana Pacers select Mark Pope,
University of Kentucky.

Speaker 5 (01:14:15):
Speaking of doing cartwheels. There goes Rick Patino, thank you, My.

Speaker 12 (01:14:19):
Rosary beads were out of press.

Speaker 5 (01:14:21):
Thank you, Thank you Indiana. Do I owe you a
big favorite. It's because we're.

Speaker 12 (01:14:25):
Speaking about probably the hottest worker I've ever coached.

Speaker 5 (01:14:29):
I used to say that Billy Donovan was the hottest
worker I've ever.

Speaker 12 (01:14:31):
Coach, that Tolmath Pope and is a young man who
if he's going to be eleventh or twelfth man to
make a coach proud. This is that young man.

Speaker 5 (01:14:39):
I saw it where you were quoted as saying, if
he goes to camp, if he really puts his nose
down and really plays the way he knows he can
with confidence, he can make it in view well.

Speaker 12 (01:14:47):
He shoots it well at six'. Nine he also runs very.
Well he rases mccaudy in all those runs and finishes
maybe a second behind. Him he's got good low post
moves and he's just a terrific young man who will
give every ounce of perspiration he. Has i'm very very
happy For mark.

Speaker 11 (01:15:03):
Now i'm happy for, him and also that's a good
pick For Larry.

Speaker 7 (01:15:06):
Brown once, again you're getting a perimeter.

Speaker 11 (01:15:08):
Guy when you have A Rick smith's in the hall
and you're coming with second line, guys.

Speaker 1 (01:15:13):
You need people who can shoot the perimeter.

Speaker 12 (01:15:15):
Shot And Mark pope WILL i think maybe?

Speaker 7 (01:15:17):
Do.

Speaker 12 (01:15:17):
Dude The Indiana pace is very proud because no one
will outwork this young.

Speaker 1 (01:15:21):
Man.

Speaker 5 (01:15:21):
Sometimes can it be even more satisfying for you as a?
Coach you know some of these guys are going to.
Go you know That ducks and the McCarty's gonna, go
and antline walker to See Mark pope.

Speaker 12 (01:15:30):
Go for the last ten, texts my insides was churning
beyond BE i kept saying to, you BUT i Hope
Mark pope goes next because he's a rood skular candidate
who was a big part of a championship and deserves legitimate.
Sha don't if he doesn't make it with the paces
will go To europe and be an outstanding that's Maybe.

Speaker 5 (01:15:46):
Greece, yeah that's where they're all coming.

Speaker 1 (01:15:48):
From and how pression was? That maybe grease kind of
a throwaway, line But Rick patino ends up coaching In
greece and in a way resurrected his career coaching. OVERSEAS
i just thought that was pretty. Cool BUT i love hearing.
That and by the, Way Mark pope did not make
the team straight up coming out OF, uk ended up

(01:16:10):
playing In turkey his first year of pro, ball but
spent the next two seasons after that playing for The.
Pacers then he went to a minor. League then he
went back overseas and played back In, turkey but came
back played for The, bucks played for The nuggets for
the last four or five years of his, career but

(01:16:32):
he did spend the first couple of seasons of his
pro career with The Indiana. Pacers SO i thought that
was pretty. COOL i mentioned before the Break Johnny bench
On The Dan Patrick. Show he told a story about
when he first met the guy who was my first baseball,
Hero Mickey. Mantle and when did you Meet?

Speaker 7 (01:16:53):
Mantle at a spring training game in nineteen sixty. SIX
i went over and got.

Speaker 5 (01:16:57):
His autography because you're both From. Oklahoma, yeah you, know
he was.

Speaker 7 (01:17:01):
It he Was Mickey. Manton that's what inspired me WHEN
i was three years old to Hear Mickey mantle batting
AND i, said you can be From oklahoma and play
in the major.

Speaker 5 (01:17:08):
LEAGUES i was.

Speaker 7 (01:17:09):
Asking my, dad and that's HOW i did. It and
then he came to MY i had a golf tournam
At heart's The Heart fund invitation In, tampa and he
came to the tournament AND i have pictures on my
wall of him pitching pennies with my dad outside of
The Ramada. Inn and that Night mickey comes up to.
Me i'm over there and he, said, Hey, john let's

(01:17:29):
go have a. Drink mickey's asking me to go have
a drink because right across the street is The marriott.

Speaker 1 (01:17:35):
And at a.

Speaker 7 (01:17:35):
Disco you, know we got those back in those days
as disco they got the glass balls and everything. ELSE
i said, Sure so we walked across the street to
The marriott and we walked up to the door of
the disco and the big bouncers there and, Says, john
you can come, in but we've already kicked out making.

Speaker 9 (01:17:49):
Drinks he was.

Speaker 5 (01:17:53):
Using you.

Speaker 1 (01:18:00):
Love that story, because LIKE i, said most of us
back in the, day We're Mickey mantle. Fans And Doug
flynn has told the story about Asking mickey for his
autograph on a baseball at an old timers game And mickey, said,
sure let's go in the dugout and they went in
and at the, Time mickey was suffering FROM i Guess
parkinson's and his hands were trembling a, bit and you,

(01:18:22):
know he didn't want people to see that out on the,
Field so in the dugout he said To, doug And,
doug you might notice my hands are, trembling shaken a little.
Bit he, said it's Because i'm. Nervous i've always wanted
to meet. You But Hot top was one of the
greatest STORIES i have ever heard from a guy in
a situation like that that said good night from the

(01:18:42):
garage and a Lexingdon.

Speaker 8 (01:18:44):
So he finished eighteen and he's gonna stiff me AND i, said, hey, lamma,
hey how about a little, something you.

Speaker 7 (01:18:51):
Know for the, effort you?

Speaker 6 (01:18:53):
Know and he, says, oh this won't be any, money
but when you die on.

Speaker 12 (01:18:59):
Your deathbedd you will receive total, consciousness.

Speaker 9 (01:19:07):
SO i got that bott.

Speaker 1 (01:20:00):
Then then.

Speaker 9 (01:20:03):
Showing can anything to anything At stamp doing don't do

(01:21:00):
the scot