2025-07-31 - BBI

UK adds 6 new names to its athletic Hall of Fame; (8:00) my longtime broadcast partner Doug Flynn on being one of those named; (19:00) ex-Cat OL Kenneth Horsey on what it takes to build a Big Blue Wall; (39:00) HL's Caroline Makauskas on the UK women's bkb Cats; (58:00) WDKY's Michael Epps on wrapping up his stay in Lexington and sometimes, in basic training, it's every man for himself...

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Big Blue Insider. Dick Gabriel with you
on a Thursday edition of our program, thirty days away
now from the opener Wildcats open up as you know,
four weeks from Saturday against Toledo a gam' here right
here on six thirty wlap Well talks in Football Today
with our guest Caroline mccowskis from The Hero Leader, Michael
Epps from Fox fifty six but not for long. That's

(00:23):
a story in and of itself, and Kenneth Horsey, a
former member of the Big Blue Wall offensive lineman for
the Wildcats, so we will get into that. But we're
also going to talk about the Kentucky Hall of Fame,
the UK Athletic Hall of Fame, because my man Doug
Flynn is one of six inductees going in, and we'll
talk to Doug as well. But before we do anything,

(00:45):
you know, Tom Leach closes his show out with happy birthdays,
and maybe we should do the same here on the
Big Blue Inside. Well, we definitely will today because you
got Glenn Holt, a former Kentucky wide receiver, played a
little while with a Sinnati Bengals. Mike Flynn, one of
my all time favorite players. He had a huge game
against Indiana in that regional championship game back in nineteen

(01:08):
seventy five, he alongside Jimmy dan Connor and that bunch
that upset Bob Knight's Indiana team. Hamadude Diallo celebrating a
birthday today and so is the Deduce Tim Couch a birthday today.
So lots to talk about with the birthday folks, but
we do need to talk about the Kentucky Hall of Fame.

(01:29):
And as I said, Doug Flynn's going to join us.
But UK put out a video which it always does,
and it shows Mitch Barnhardt talking to the inductees, which
I think is a great touch, and the folks going
in with Doug. You may have already seen this or
read this. But Abby Cheek Ramsey, who was the Fast
Pitch Coaches Association National Player of the Year in twenty nineteen,

(01:55):
of course SEC Player of the Year, first UK player
to win that honor, and naturally a first team All
American unanimous. Mikayla Epps, an outstanding guard for the UK women,
three time All America Honorable mention by the AP, and
a first Team All America by College Sports Madness back
in twenty sixteen, three year first Team All SEC. She's

(02:18):
number six all time in scoring for the UK women.
Sonja Han, who was an outstanding tennis player, two times
Singles All American, two times doubles All American in nineteen
eighty seven, won the ITA National indoor singles title and
won the number one singles in the SEC that year
as well. In nineteen eighty seven, josh Heinz Allen. All

(02:42):
he did was win just about every award you could
win as the National Defensive Player of the Year, was
the winner of the Benark Award, in the Girsky Award,
the Lot Trophy, as a senior first team All American unanimously,
and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in twenty eighteen.
He was phenomenal. Of course, he's gone on to play

(03:03):
for the Jacksonville Jaguars Karl Anthony Towns, the centerpiece literally
of the thirty eight and one team back in twenty fifteen.
You know what happened with that ball club, but he
was the second leading scorer and leading rebound and shop
blocker for that ball club. Second team All American consensus,

(03:24):
a SEC Freshman of the Year, First Team All Conference
Regional most Outstanding Players, had a great career in the NBA,
but Mitch Barnod reminded all of them that it's, you know,
not so much what you did after you were at Kentucky,
but it's what you accomplished here. And my man Doug
Flynn has been not just a ballplayer but a broadcaster

(03:45):
when it comes to Kentucky baseball and had an eleven
year Major League career, also played basketball at Kentucky, but
he has been my broadcast partner on Kentucky baseball. We
don't even we can't even remember when we started to
get but it's been about at least thirty years with
Doug and has done just a tremendous job. So we'll
talk to Doug a little bit later on. But congrats

(04:08):
to all the Hall of famers and so deserving. And
I'm sure a lot of you right now are thinking
of others, Why and so and so in why isn't
such as such? And Well, it's hard to throw the
net over everybody, isn't it. But they'll get there eventually.
Got to think, if you know somebody who's deserving, I
gotta think they'll get there. If you go to the
UK Athletics address on Twitter. You can see the video

(04:31):
that they put together spliced in there Mitch Barnard talking
to all the inductees and capturing their surprise. They had
no idea why he was calling them. I mean somebody
called and set it up, said Mitch wants to talk
to you about this and that, but it was not
about the Hall of Fame. So they were all really surprised.
Here's just some some quick hits from the inductees as

(04:53):
they found out that they were being honored.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Big cat, How you doing, sir?

Speaker 3 (05:00):
How are you?

Speaker 4 (05:00):
What's up?

Speaker 5 (05:01):
Miss Hay you find me? Yeah, there's a couple of
things that happen in our world that we do every summer.
We try and invite people into the University of Kentucky
Hall of Fame, and we started in two thousand and two,
and it's to get into it is is difficult. Did
I get to call people that have been elected to

(05:23):
the University of Kentucky Sports.

Speaker 6 (05:25):
Hall of Fame?

Speaker 7 (05:26):
And so yeah, So.

Speaker 4 (05:31):
I don't have any words.

Speaker 6 (05:32):
That's awesome.

Speaker 8 (05:34):
Wow, Oh yeah, yeah.

Speaker 9 (05:37):
I don't know what to say about that.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
That's nine, that's no, that's crazy, that great.

Speaker 10 (05:45):
Yeah, I don't say, I'm speechless.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
And a little bit more with Karl Anthony Towns and
Josh Heinz. Allen and the Towns said he had broken
into a sweat talking to Mitch Barnard. He said, I'm
literally sweating. He was so excited when he got the news.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
I'm just I'm glad that God gave me the chance
to make. You know, a lot of kids don't make
the right decision when it comes to school, and to
be able to have.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
Made the right decision for me and my family was
I you.

Speaker 5 (06:13):
Know, you never know if you got it right, and
I wanted to be really clear, the reason you get
into the Hall of Fame is because of all the
beautiful things you did at Kentucky. All Right, We're super
proud of the NBA career, the super thankfully people are coach, Okay,
I mean, I it's a lot tougher for this.

Speaker 7 (06:29):
I'm super thankful.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
I guess I literally was just talking to here about
hopefully one day I'm able to my kids could see
that their dad was something special in college in Kentucky.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
That's Karl Anthony Towns. Mitch Barnard when he was talking
to Josh Heinz Allen. He pointed it was a zoom call,
and he pointed over his shoulder at a big picture
of Josh on his wall in his office in Mitch's office.
He said, that's been hanging up there for a long time,
and you could tell just how moved Josh. Heinz Allen is.

Speaker 10 (07:01):
I love it, man.

Speaker 11 (07:02):
I appreciate you guys.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
Man.

Speaker 11 (07:03):
You know I love Kentucky, his family. You know, his
family up Tebran and don't care who pieces move in
and out, and I'm always going to be connect. That's
where I started my family, and you know I created
my life there, man.

Speaker 4 (07:16):
So I really, I really.

Speaker 11 (07:18):
Appreciate everybody in our organization. Now, I appreciate you, mich
for holding it down for so long then and saying
true to your word, and this is awesome.

Speaker 10 (07:25):
Then I'll tell you how good.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
I'm especially happy for Josh because he needed some good
news in his life, and right now the news is
good about his son. But his seven year old boy
has been battling leukemi and right now he's been giving
a clean bill of health. But that's obviously something he's
gonna have to deal with all his life. So the
family and Josh mentioned the fact that he started his

(07:48):
family while he was at UK and it was great
to see him smile like that. But as I said,
the latest news about his son was good, so keep
an eye on that as well. But again, my man
Doug Flynn going in and coming up. We will chat
with mister Flynn here on The Big Blue Sider six
thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Sider. As

(08:09):
we mentioned earlier, mister Doug Flynn one of a half
a dozen former UK athletes going into the UK Hall
of Fame. He is on our Celebrity hotline right now.
It is my privilege to bring him on to the
show for the umpteenth time, my broadcast partner for more
than three decades. I'm not kidding, Doug. And you've said
the same thing when people ask us how long have
you guys worked together? And we both shrug as in,

(08:31):
I don't know. You know, we're not the sharpest knives
in the drawer anyway. But yeah, that's true, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (08:37):
I mean we tried to figure it out one time
and we can't do it, and I think that's good.
I don't maybe one day we'll have to have an
exact answer. But right now nobody seems to you know,
they just want to know how long we just say, well,
we're just good buddies and we're good time doing it.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Well, they hear us finishing each other's sentences like an
old married couple or whatever. The bickering on the air.
So anyway, let's get to the the topic of interest.
And you are now for the fourth time, you're going
into a hall of fame. This time it's the UK
Hall and there's a little video online of Mitch calling
the new inductees and all of you. You were sputtering

(09:13):
when he told you, and they kind of set you
up a little bit. They said Mitch was calling for
one reason and then he drops the bomb on you
that you're going into Hall of fame. What was that like?
What was that moment?

Speaker 3 (09:24):
Like?

Speaker 4 (09:25):
Yeah, Tony Neely used to be my friend and really nice.
You know, there's a lot of things that you get
on your radar and you hope and you wish and
you think, you know, that would be nice, Dick. There's
nothing further from my mind that ever had anything at
an honor bestowed upon me like this in the UK
Hall of Fame. You know, I was there one year,

(09:48):
maybe I was one of the I didn't realize that
being a one and done, I was set such a trend.

Speaker 7 (09:53):
For the future.

Speaker 4 (09:56):
But you know, my time there is probably the best
growing up year I've ever had as an athlete, because
I got an opportunity every day to go out and
scrimmage against the number one team in the nation, and
it taught me how to compete at a higher level.
And obviously playing with some tremendous people like Manruse and
Darryl Bishop, and you know, having to guard Terry Mills

(10:19):
and Jim dim Widdie and you know Bill Busy and
Bob McCowan, all those guys that were so much bigger.
But my time here was, it was so special, and
I just it's an incredible honor. And I'm still blown
away in his shock box.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
Yeah, you know, and the picture they released is you
in a baseball uniform. But you didn't get to play
much baseball here, did.

Speaker 6 (10:38):
You, No?

Speaker 4 (10:40):
And for good reason, there were guys better than me.
I was a freshman and five eight and one hundred
and fifty pounds that's what I played basketball at and
I didn't really start to mature or grow until after
my freshman year. So yeah, there was some really good
players here. But you know, Dick, I look at it
like this, God had a some really wild things in

(11:05):
my life that got me to where, you know, like
leaving school, going to Somerset, having friends and take me
to a tryout camp. There's just so many things that
have happened. I'm eternally grateful, my friend, and I'm very
humbled by this.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
I promise you, Well, you're a humble period. You're a
humble guy, uh for someone who's really done so much
with their life, with their career, which is one of
the many, many things that I appreciate about you. But
five eight one fifty, let's go back to basketball. Here
you are guarding and when we look at these kids
coming in now, and of course we've talked for years

(11:39):
about bigger, faster, stronger. Now they're growing, nutrition, weights and
all that stuff, but here you are a scrawny five
eight one fifty trying to guard these guys. And you
were there when Rupp was there and he put a
high priority on defense. That had to be quite a
learning experience.

Speaker 6 (11:57):
Yeah, it was.

Speaker 4 (11:58):
Fortunately I had a little quick but didn't have any
strengths and didn't have any size, so it was important
that I got to know the plays. And one thing
about you came back in those days, they really don't
had about five or six plays on offense. So Varsity
no them. We knew them, and if you ran them correctly,
you couldn't stop it because there's a lot of picking
screen and moving and all that stuff. But when you're

(12:19):
guarding people like Terry Mills's six y two and McCowen
was six to one and then what he was six five,
you know, but you learned to compete. And I think
one thing that I've always been proud of is even
though my ability in certain areas wasn't great, I wasn't
afraid to try to learn and compete at a higher
level to try to get better. And they made you better.

(12:41):
I mean you watched Dan Issel and Mike Pratton, Larry Steele,
you know those guys that would go out there and
you see, man, you know, Dansel sixth eight didn't jump
as well as everybody. He's getting thirty a games because
he knew how.

Speaker 6 (12:55):
To play the game.

Speaker 4 (12:56):
Mike Pratt or forward, I mean six forward, think of
that right now, who could use his body to get
shots off, so I would watch him and listen to
them and just learned you don't mind getting knocked down.
And always said that basketball helped me for other sports,
especially in high school, because when you start getting that contact,

(13:16):
when you didn't mind it, you didn't mind getting busted
up on a double play or taking a charge because
you know it was just part of the game and
that's part of the arsenal that you had to use
as a little guy, Yeah, to survive them.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Talking to Doug Flinny is one of the newest inductees
into the UK Hall of Fame. Played baseball and basketball
back in nineteen seventy and has been a broadcaster for
more than twenty years of UK basketball. Also a writer baseball.
That'd be some of them put you on basketball games,
you'd be all right. I also worked on the Reds
Network for a while there and k E. T is

(13:50):
an Emmy Award winner for the old TV show Kentucky Life.
And you have spent a lot of time, Doug, representing
UK people. They look at you as you know you yeah,
you played for the Reds, you're a Gold Glove winner,
but they also connect you to the UK as much
as for your athletic career as your work with nonprofits

(14:10):
and charities and things like that. That's I know, that's
a huge part of your life, isn't it.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
Yeah, it really is, you know. I mean I've been
when I was doing the games up in Cincinnati a
lot Marty and those guys, we need to call me
bluegrass or big bluesh and uh. And they'd say, you know,
they would always get on me because they roll High
state people or Cincinnati people and uh. And I've always
taken a lot of pride in where I was from.
People say, where all have you lived? Well, Lexingon, that's

(14:37):
my home. Season was over, I'd come back home because
I enjoyed going to the ball games in the off season,
you know, running out the keenlan where you'd run into
all your friends. But I've always been very proud of
my heritage, and so I remember when I married older
at the first place I took her was through like
the Upstart Crow or the Lost Farmadilly. Is this work

(14:59):
we're going to be hanging out? And I went, well,
this is me, this is who we are. And but
now after forty three years, he's one of us. But
I tell you she's she and I both looked at
each other when I came home, and Nick didn't show
you all of that footage frum right when they told me,
I actually teared up on it because I was just
in such disbelief. And you know, my buddies, Jim Andrews

(15:22):
in there and say, Keith Madison, who's our buddy. Just
you know, it's very humbling, and I have such respect
for the folks that have come through the system and
who are in that Hall of Fame, And you know,
I'm just eternally grateful, and I really don't have the
proper words right now. I'm still sitting here kind in shock.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Well, and we've always talked on and off there about
how Jim it was overdue with Jim, But there are
so many deserving people who should be in and eventually
are going. And you're going in with a pretty good
class too, aren't you.

Speaker 4 (15:55):
Yeah, man, you look at you look at the talent
from a lot of different sports, from ten and basketball
and softball and all the things that these folks have
done football. Man, just a great class. And you know, yeah,
I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be
exciting for me. I think about when I watched this

(16:16):
all my life growing up here, and watched at the
football games and the basketball games when they present the
people who have played here and who are proud to
have been here and who go into the Hall of Fame,
and you're thinking, man, that is just such a cool tradition.
Now to kind of be there too, who I'm nervous.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, but you've you've you've made a few speeches in
your day and I was fortunate enough to be there
when you went into the state wide Athletic Hall of Fame.
So and unfortunately your mom and dad have have left us,
but I know how proud they would be, and then
they they were such not just you do you talk
about your dad. We all know your dad, but your mom.
I mean, you've told me about how you got your

(16:59):
athletic jeans honestly from both of them, right. Oh?

Speaker 4 (17:02):
Absolutely. Mom was a really good player. You know, she
never missed the game either. She was a huge UK fan.
But you know, I was just thinking, Dick, if you
thought my dad did a lot of trips around rupp
Arena showing off that World Series ring, can you imagine
what he'd be doing now with me going into the
UK Hall of Fame. Well, lord, he'd put that World

(17:23):
Series ring in a drawer and he put on something
blue just to walk around town. So somebody ask him,
are you a Kentucky fan? Well, let me tell you
about my boy, and so it's yeah, they would be
so so just you know, I've been getting calls all morning,
and it's just it's so cool knowing that you got

(17:44):
so many people in this town who supported you for
seventy four years and continue to do so. I'm very bleased.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
Well, I tell you what you've heard me tell the story.
But one of my favorites about your dad was the
night you went into the Kentucky Hall of Fame and
I was a chairman of the nominating committee. That's not
why you got in. You got in on a Democratic vote.
But one of the little gifts that we would put
out at the table, along with the yearbook the program
is as a glass, a drinking glass and time were

(18:11):
with the names of that year's class, and there are
generally eight names per year, at least there used to be.
And after the dinner was over, your dad went to
every table that he could find. Everybody was gone, and
he's picking up glasses and he's stacking them up, and
I mean it was like it was like the red panda,
you know, the woman that stacks the plates. I didn't

(18:33):
know how he was going to make it out of
there with all those glasses stacked up. What's he going
to do with those? You know, like a dinner party
were Hey, look at this, my kid's name is on here.
But he was proud. He was proud of you.

Speaker 4 (18:43):
Uh what It's just like when he came up to
Cincinnati and I say, Dad, how many hats and autographed
balls do you need? So I would come home and
I'd say, what are you doing with all this stuff? Well?

Speaker 6 (18:56):
None of it was for him?

Speaker 4 (18:57):
Yeah, he was always getting it for other people, that's
right and so, but yeah, he was very proud.

Speaker 6 (19:04):
He spoke that.

Speaker 4 (19:06):
Lot more to other folks than he did to me
and Brad, but we knew how much he loved us
and how proud he was of it.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Well, I love you. I'm proud of you as well. Congratulations.
I intend to be there the night you're honored, and
I couldn't be happier for you.

Speaker 4 (19:19):
I may be calling you to help me with the wording.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
That's fine with me. You know where to find you brother.

Speaker 7 (19:25):
Hi, you the best babe.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
Thanks Gabe.

Speaker 1 (19:27):
So happy for Doug. And you know on the days
that Keith Madison works radio with Darren Headrick up on
UK Baseball, that gives us two UK Hall of Famers
on the air at the same time and adjacent boose
Doug in the TV booth with me and Keith over
on radio side with Darren so Hey, best of both

(19:47):
worlds coming up. Kenneth Horsey, a former member of the
Big Blue Wall, Well travel with us about Kentucky football
and what it's like playing offensive line here on a
Big One Sider six thirty wlap Welcome back to the
Big One inside of joining us now is promised Kenneth Horsey.
He was part of the Big Blue Wall back when
he was playing football for the Wildcats. He is out
now working in the real world where there's Kenneth good talking.

(20:10):
You saw you at the American Heart Association of it
over the summer. You've been keeping busy.

Speaker 7 (20:14):
I know right, I appreciate you and it was definitely
good to see you. We need to get together soon.

Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yeah, let's talk about your time first as a Wildcat.
We'll look at this team coming up. But you were
part of that big Blue Wall. It struggled a little
bit towards the end. But tell everybody about what it's
like being part of a group. And I don't mean
just the starters, but all the guys in that position
room more than any other position, that unit has to

(20:43):
act as one. Tell me about that challenge you.

Speaker 7 (20:47):
Just said, challenge. You know it has to be five
guys working in unison. That's why when it comes to
the offensive line, where especially when it comes to the
Big Blue Wall, the standard is raised at all times.
And we all know that. You know when you when
you hear about Kentucky Football's offensive line, you're expecting quality

(21:07):
football play. And the only way that you can accomplish
your goal if you're handling you if you're handling your
job to the best of your ability, and the guy
handling their job next to you is doing it to
the best of their ability and doing it the right way.
And if everybody's not going the right way, moving with
one sound, it only takes one person for the whole

(21:29):
It only takes one mess upon the offensive line for
the whole line to for everything to mess up. And
now everybody's looking at the entire offensive line off of
one missed up. When you hear all you hear Kentucky
Football's may and of it's not. It shouldn't be for negatives.
That this should only be for the for the whole
reopen and and the protection the quarterback has. You know,

(21:52):
when we're in the mouths of the reporters and announce
this for other reasons, you know, that's when it gets bad.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
You're right an offensive line for a minute. In high school,
I was a tiny guy, and yet they stuck me
at oh tackle I got.

Speaker 7 (22:06):
I was about to say, no way, you played old line.
Every time I see skinny man, no man.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
They for whatever. I was moved from wide receiver for
my buddies are there running through tires and catching passes
and I'm getting crushed, you know, but uh, you know,
I'm just slamming the sled and all that stuff. But
I know it. I know it is not a glamorous position.
But what did you enjoy about playing that position?

Speaker 7 (22:31):
Well? One, and of course the first thing your person
you enjoy is hating people. You enjoy you enjoy imposing
your will on another human being, because your job as
an offensive line is to impose your will on another
human being being able to move somebody who does not
want to be moved from point A to point B

(22:54):
and being able to accomplish that to another grown man,
another grown athlete who does this, who does train and
do all this work every day, day in and day out,
like watching, like watching the game go by and seeing
the life drained from a defensive lineman bus because they
can't stop what you're doing. And you and your body,

(23:16):
and you and your you, and the guys next to
your less and your right us looking at each other like, yeah,
these guys cannot do a single thing to stop us.
Coach Larmon said it all the time. When you come together,
nobody can stop you. And timing and time out. Our
team has shown that exact thing. Our offensive line has
shown that exact thing. And that's just that's just what

(23:39):
it's all about now, having being able to be able
to gail this thing together now, especially in this nil era,
You've got to.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Be disciplined as it old lineman, is what I'm saying.
And when the heat of battle, how tough is that.

Speaker 7 (23:53):
It's one of the It's one of the toughest. It's
one of the toughest things actually, because nobody Nobody likes
to talks about the fact that defensive lines can just
do whatever they want to. The old line and we
got to have our hands in perfect five with our
elbow tide and all that stuff.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
That's right, but.

Speaker 7 (24:11):
It's part of that the technique that makes offensive line
offensive line plays so special. You know, not only are
the biggest guys on the field, but you have to
be one. You have to be the most technically. You
have to have some of the best footworks, the best
hand place time after time after time.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Talking to Kenneth Horsey, he played in forty three career
games thirty seven starts as a Kentucky Wildcat, two time
team captain. Just being named team catman is a big deal.
I've learned that through the years. Kenneth always said it
was just kind of a that's nice, but you guys
really take that to heart. You were named team captain twice.

(24:51):
What did that mean to you?

Speaker 7 (24:53):
You know, anybody that's anybody that's close to me knows
that being named teams captain is the It's the highest
honor that I've ever received at the University of Kentucky
in my opinion, you know, because that's something that's floated
on by the players. You know, it's they're only obviously,

(25:13):
they're only going to go to war for the guys
that they are to, the guys that they respect, and
the guys that prove it day in and day out.
To come in, yeah, work as hard as they can,
try to be a leader the best that they can,
you know, to be To come in as a guy
who's fresh off of heart surgery, just trying to find
his way, being able to work my way up to

(25:36):
that position. It was just like if I wish that
I wish that version of me could have talked to
the twenty eighteen version of me and just tell them
that to keep just keep working. It does get better.
You know, there is something on the other side of
this guy put you through all this four reasons to
show you something, to get you something.

Speaker 1 (25:56):
You became part of an old line that was nominated
several times as the best old line in the country.
They've been nominated for the Joe Moore Award as the
Big Blue Wall. So that had to mean a lot
to you as your season, as your career unfolded.

Speaker 7 (26:12):
It's something that I want to it's something that I
want to encourage the youth to just always try to
think about the next step. You know, it's very easy
to when you're not you're not playing right away, you know,
it's very it's very easy to want to go somewhere else,
to want to look to other opportunities and all that

(26:32):
kind of other. So it's very easy to do that stuff.
But the reason that one of the reasons that UK
even k in the UK is the fact that we
were able to take guys recruit develop mentor them teaching
the ways, teaching the culture, and then by the time
that the older guys left, it was our time to
carry on that culture. It's okay to lose the slow

(26:55):
cook things. Sometimes it's okay to put it in the
crop toot instead of the airfry. Sometimes sometimes the food
just comes out better. Man. You know, you never know
what's on the other side of.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
I am going to quote you on that it's better
sometimes to put things in the croc bot and you're right.
But that speaks directly as well to the O line.
And that's what I'm wondering about. Is we get in
this discussion to this year's team, so many new faces,
maybe as many as four new starters in that o
Line Kenneth, and it's there right now. They got to
be on fast forward. Because you were part of a

(27:29):
group that developed organically, naturally, slowly. This group's got to
come together in a hurry. How do you feel about that?
Do you worry for them?

Speaker 6 (27:37):
You know?

Speaker 7 (27:38):
No, I don't, honestly don't worry for them because they
have because like I was just talking, like what I
was just talking about, they have guys still in the program,
in the culture that have been a part of this,
and I've seen what we've done, what we've done and
been able to carry that on to the next generation
of it. Like I was just there last week or

(28:00):
so doing a hands on the CPR session. I was
able to talk to Jagger and meet some of these
new old linemen and let's just put let's just put
it like this. I'm I'm looking forward to see my
guys ball out. I'm excited. I'm after talking to Jagger,
after meeting the guys, after hearing how summer's been going,

(28:22):
how they've geled together, how they come together, you know that,
just hearing the excitement and the in the the hunger
and their voices, I'm I'm excited to see what this
season has form. I know coach Wolfe is going to
get him right, and I know coach Stops is going
to settle for nothing less than the best some of
the best offensive line plays. So and I'm looking forward

(28:45):
to watching my guys do their thing.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
Former UK offensive lineman Kenneth Horsey my guest here on
six thirty WLAP welcome back. We're talking with Kenneth Horsey
was a veteran offensive lineman for the Wildcats. And also
he mentioned Earl You're was a survivor of heart surgery.
You and I have that in common, and we have
been a part of the American Heart Association and similar drives,

(29:10):
and you of course won the Central Kentucky American Heart
Associations Finn Call your Service Award for your volunteer work.
You mentioned going over there and working through a CPR
program with a Wildcats. Tell us about that that happened.
What a couple of weeks.

Speaker 7 (29:25):
Ago, I've said a few years back, I was thanks
to the American Heart Association, UK Healthcare, jacob Son and
I we're able to start doing CPR trainings for the
for the football team. You know, it's very life it's
a very important skill. It's a life statement skill, and
it's and it's unfortunately it's something that's it's a simple

(29:46):
skill that everybody can learn. You know that. I think
that's the most that's one of the most important things
about it. You know. It's when we talk about CPO,
you know, we're we're not doing that mounts and mouth stuff.

Speaker 9 (29:58):
All the evidence has shown that doesn't really help as
much as just keeping the compressions and keeping the continuous
compressions on the chest and doing what you can till
none till if you can get the AED or till
now we want to arrive.

Speaker 7 (30:11):
Like I said, it's a simple skill. It's a life
saving skill, and it's something that you never hopefully you
never have to use, but you never know, you never
know the day that it might come that you need
to use it. You know, although we've had heart problems,
I'm fortunately that seatun didn't have. I didn't have to
go through it. That's not something I went through. But
going through my situation with my heart situation was it

(30:36):
became very clear that conversations about heart health and and
simple skills like CPR and saving lives and all that stuff,
it's not common. And the more that we raise that
level of attention and focus on it, the more we
can live healthier lives and the more we can help
each other save each other's lives. If we're all in

(30:59):
this by we all we all do this life thing together. Man,
we all have to look out for each other.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah, that that your words ring true? And how were
you received? I mean, were the guys uh intimidated by
it at all? Or were the enthusiastic about what you
were trying to share with them?

Speaker 7 (31:19):
They were enthusiastic, man, they were all. They were very
They're the very locked in. They're very tentive because they
wanted because they understand that it's a life save field
in and like we were just talking about that, there's
been some there unfortunately, have been so many instances that
are close to home for us that it's become something

(31:42):
that have to be paid attention to, has to be
locked into because, like we were just talking about, you
never know when it's gonna stuff's going to happen. But
it was it was very It was very good to
see the guys working through the going through the work
in the process with the test dummies and we have
the U we had Jason, we had Jason Lewis in
the fire department come out and help out with the

(32:07):
donis and help out with CPR, teaching guys different things.
We all because some of God, some of the got
the firefighters, even former players. So it was it was
it's just really cool to see everybody come out to
accomplish one goal. It shows that so that life and
community and all that stuff. It's not it's not. While
it's unfortunately not the popular way to do things these days,

(32:30):
it's it's still it's still a good method and it's
still a way to uplift everybody. There's still ways to
make sure everybody has looked out for.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Well, I'll let you go with this. We'll bring it
back to football this time of year. For many many
years high school, college, you know, in August, the hot
days you were in camp or getting ready for camp.
Do you miss those days? I mean, this is when
you know you got to grind. Are Are you like
the old fire horse here and the bell? You know
you're ready to go? Now you're in the business world,

(33:00):
but uh uh, so many years you were you were
working and sweating and camp as a summertime. What's it
like for you right now?

Speaker 7 (33:09):
What it's like to me right now. Oh, it's it's
very it's very different. You know, it's very different. Your
coast stoops talk, uh coasts talks all the time about
when you're saying libry. So there's no there's never when
you go out into the quote unquote real world you're

(33:29):
gonna be there's never gonna be a bigger it's never
gonna be a bigger rush than that. Then the training
and swat running out on the field and stuff like that,
and the grinding, and but it's it's very.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
Hang okay, it's very interesting, go ahead, very interesting that.

Speaker 7 (33:53):
Like the tools that you don't you don't understand all
the tools that football gives you until you are forced
to apply them, apply all of them outside of the okay,
make sense.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
How's that going for?

Speaker 7 (34:16):
And it's going well, you know, I was, you know,
so at first I was loading trucks up in Nicholasville,
So I was just trying to find my way. I
was recently promoted to supervisors, so the company has seen
my has seen my leadership experience through what I've been
able to do, and and it's all in that leadership

(34:40):
experience has been acquired through the University of Kentucky. You know,
although I didn't have job, although I didn't have job
experience coming out, I did have leadership experience. And that's
something that And that and the ability to communicate, the
ability to talk to people, the ability to empathize with people,
the ability to understand what somebody will understand. Somebody just

(35:03):
needs somebody to somebody to listen to them. Sometimes somebody
needs they just need somebody to talk to. You know,
if everybody has some things going on, everybody has different situations.
Everybody's head spaces and in the same space all the time.
So it's working being able to being able to learn

(35:24):
different learn different ways to learn, different people, talk to
different people, being able to connect with people that are
different from you. All of those, all those small qualities,
all those small qualities, and outside of that, it's being
as all of your once you get out, once you

(35:44):
get onto it, all that happens that you, all the
habits that you have, even in football, like if they
show are you a guy? Are you a guy that
gets up early into it? Are you a guy that
gets up and goes to sleep way? Are you a grinder?
Are you ay that that skips out on stuff. Are
you Are you that type of guy? Are you type

(36:05):
of guy that isn't accountable that are you a guy
that people can look to? Are you the person that
people can lean on? All all that stuff, all of
that stuff that I had to I had to that
I was able to hone through teachings and training at
the University of Kentucky. It just really it really changed,

(36:27):
like it it gave me tools that I didn't even
realize that I've been honing that coach coach that the
coaches always talk about, but you never really realize it
until you see it come to fruition. So I'm forever
thankful the coach Stoops coach ed all the all the

(36:49):
training staff, the mess staff, everybody at the University of
Kentucky for everything that they did for me, because although
although I wasn't, although the heart surgery kept me away
from a certain dream, that I was given the tools

(37:12):
to go out into society as a man. And now
I'm and now I'm in a position where I'm I'm
leading guys twice or twice my age and then and
I've come and it's and it's about and it's kind
of just you know, it's funny. I was having this

(37:33):
conversation with somebody few West very quickly. But it was
just that when you step down into really you have
to if it's the NFL, after college, whatever it is,
job after college, you're a rookie, no matter what, if
you're in the league not, you're a rookie. Once you

(37:53):
step down to college, you're a rookie. You're a freshman.
You're a sixty year overall with no bad Some people
be youthful understand that. Yeah, so you have to you
have to start. You have to start from scratch to
the learning, the ability to be teachable, to be coachable,

(38:15):
all of that stuff in the brook and all that
it comes. It all comes to fruition. All the habits
that you learn in football, it all comes to fluition.
Life at all is a life. And that's what the
coach has been trying to tell you for years and years.
And I always think they're just talking nonsense sometimes, but
it's real. It's real.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
Kenned. I can't thank you enough. Great talking to you.
Always good to see you and uh I hope to
get together with you again soon. Thanks so much. Yes, sir,
I appreciate your having Kenneth's horse that you at his
heart surgery coming out of high school, and Mince Marrow
and Mark Stoops stood behind him said the scholarship offer
is still there and he certainly made the most of it.

Speaker 12 (38:56):
I remember two is next on six thirty w laputacting the.

Speaker 7 (39:44):
Shop.

Speaker 8 (39:46):
Anything can anything to anything.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Joining us now
on our celebrity headline once again is Caroline mccowskis from
the Herald Leader. Covers a lot of things, including UK
women's basketball. And I know it's a while before we
start talking hoops in ernest Caroline, but we've had the
opportunity to meet some of the new players and talk
to Kenny Brooks here in the summertime. So there is

(41:09):
a lot to talk about right now, isn't there?

Speaker 6 (41:12):
Here's a lot to talk about.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
Surprisingly, thanks for having me back on.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
I thank you. What's coming out of you? What's coming
at you? From the women's basketball team.

Speaker 3 (41:23):
Well, we are fresh off an open practice and media
scrum with everybody except for Elsa Badford, the six foot
five Swedish center who was a late addition to this
twenty twenty five freshman class but got to see a
little bit of this team working together. Nothing crazy, but

(41:45):
some drills, some shooting, and I got to tell you,
they look pretty good. They look pretty good. I'm impressed
once again with Kenny Brook's ability to go into the
portal find pieces that maybe not every one's talking about,
but people who will certainly serve his system.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
You know, when you think about a guy like Kenny Brooks,
with the experience, the success he's had, and what Kentucky
has to offer, and he did a great job at
Virginia Tech, obviously, but I think you bring up a
great point bringing in players to compliment the ones he
already has, who already know what he needs and what
he wants, and he can identify and evaluate the kids

(42:28):
in the portal and obviously say, hey, this would be
a good piece of the puzzle. You know, So when
you got a guy like Brooks, you're already ahead of
the game, aren't you.

Speaker 6 (42:38):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (42:39):
I think about you know, say Davos Tweeny at Clemson, right,
someone who is really really hesitant to jump into the
portal to embrace that as part of the modern game.
It doesn't seem like Kenny Brooks. Is there any any reservations?
I mean, going back to Virginia Tech when it was

(43:00):
you know, the one time exception was fresh and still new,
and everyone's trying to get the footing with the portal
and what that looks like. And he was embracing it.
He was saying, all right, this is a part of
the game.

Speaker 7 (43:13):
This is what we do.

Speaker 3 (43:14):
And you know, he always talks about you don't want
to be a diagnosaur, you don't want to get left behind, right,
And I think this is a great example of it.
And he's just always looking and his staff it seems
like they're so plugged in, so when people hit the portal,
they're ready to go. They know exactly what they want
to call.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
Yeah, And you know, people who are professional recruiters like
that in a sport like well, in any sport you
name the sport. It's interesting to me how they keep
an eye on everybody everywhere, or at least they try
to do that, you know, because at some point the
best players have been on a list in front of
them and they tracked them for obvious reasons. You know,

(43:54):
where did this kid? We didn't get them. You know,
where did this kid go? Where does she end up?
So they know and that's That's why the good ones,
the best ones can identify those kids right away once
they hit the portal.

Speaker 3 (44:06):
You know, absolutely, Tianni Key is a great example of that.
You know, that's that's a player who he was recruiting
since she was eleven or twelve, and he knew the family,
and you know, she was a top ten recruit in
her class. McDonald's all American. She wanted to go to
North Carolina, Virginia Tech wasn't the right fit for her.

(44:29):
And though they you know, didn't keep up their relationship
to the same extent as they did during the recruiting process.
You know, they played against each other every once in
a while when she would get minutes. And now he's
at this new opportunity. She's looking for a new opportunity.
Hey remember me, we got along really well.

Speaker 6 (44:51):
What about now?

Speaker 4 (44:52):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (44:53):
Yeah, And you've got a piece on Tianni keepins your
your what is it ex or Twitter feed? And she
to me was the most intriguing. I know, Georgia had
a huge year, but in terms of when the games
were on the line, it was Tony Key in my
mind because to me, she reminded me go back to

(45:15):
those old Laker teams with Magic and Kareem Right and
a lot of other good players. But to me, they
had their best games, and believe it or not, I
had a chance to ask Magic Johnson about this and
he agreed. I said, when James Worthy had a big game,
that's when the Lakers were especially dangerous. And I asked
Sam Bouie about it as well. He was with the Lakers.

(45:36):
And to me, Tony Key is that kind of player,
you know, because she was the one in there banging
on the inside, grabbing rebounds, playing defense on the inside,
and that kind of player is just vital.

Speaker 3 (45:48):
You know, absolutely. I always like to point to the
LSU game from the spring, if you'll remember, Kentucky got
a lead on LSU. It looked like the game was
in control. But what did Kim Malkey do in that game.
One of the first things she did was take out

(46:09):
Tianni Key put her in a foul trouble. That was
an assignment for Anissa Moro, and.

Speaker 6 (46:16):
She's on the on the bench.

Speaker 3 (46:18):
Then you don't have her. Now you're gonna have to
deal with everything else. You're dealing with Georgia, you're dealing
with Asia, you're dealing with Clara However, eventually you're going
to need tianni Key to keep things together and she
knew that. And you know, they did blow that big

(46:38):
lead and it was it was tough to watch, but
I think she knew exactly what she was doing. And
Kim Malke, she that's a Hall of Famer right there,
and I think it's it's notable that she knew that
that was the answer.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
Talking to Caroline mkowskis from Harold Leader. She covers, among
other things, UK women's basketball and as Caroline said, they
had a media op yesterday and people got a chance
to meet players and learn more about the new faces.
But there are returning players, the returning talent. But you
know it's going to be weird. She was only here
for a year. But you know, no Georgia Amore out there,

(47:15):
and you talk about some big shoes to fill with
with her being gone.

Speaker 3 (47:21):
Yeah, that's the type of player that you know, everyone's
always talking well, who's going to step up? Can anyone
step up? Can someone be her? And the answer is no,
You're never going to have another player like Georgia Amore.
But that's okay. That's okay because there are a bunch

(47:41):
of other teams who don't have a Georgia Amore, who
are still excellent, who are still achieving at a high level,
who are winning national championships. And that's not to say
that it's not a bummer that she's not here anymore.
You know, we wish her best in her recovery so
she can take care of business with a myth six
next year. But I think what they've done in bringing

(48:04):
in former Georgia Tech point guard Tony Morgan is someone
who is tough, who will, like Georgia, play both ends
of the floor with an intensity and precision, and someone
who just doesn't quit. You know, Tony Morgan played under

(48:25):
the Great mal Fortner for three years. Now Fortner retired,
Tony Morgan hits the portal. I saw. I told her
yesterday I got the notification that she was in the portal,
and I said, that is the point guard that Kentucky needs,
no kidding.

Speaker 1 (48:43):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
And the fact that they were able to, you know,
get it done and sign her and bring her to
Kentucky is so exciting because you know, sure, she's three
inches taller than Georgia's that's notable, but she too plays
with poise and a strength that I think will serve

(49:04):
this system really well. And though it won't be the same,
I think it's also important to note this team is
deeper than it was last year.

Speaker 6 (49:14):
Oh yeah, if.

Speaker 3 (49:15):
Georgia Amore were still here, she would not have to
carry the same load this year as she did last year.

Speaker 6 (49:23):
And we got to give.

Speaker 3 (49:24):
Tony Morgan that too, because she's going to have some
room to do some pretty special things.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
Well every time he gets a chance. Kenny Brooks has
talked about and he didn't talk last year a lot
about it because he didn't want to make excuses. But
we all know the two kids who were injured sitting
on the bench either would have been starters or any
immediate rotation would have had a huge effect on this team.
And of course lack of depth hurt this team down

(49:51):
the stretch. So to begin with, you've got those kids. Now,
Clara Strack's coming back, So yeah, this kid is the
point guard, is stepping into a great situation. And I
mentioned Clara Strac how much better can she get this year?

Speaker 3 (50:06):
She I talked to her yesterday and she said a
top priority for her this summer has been getting stronger,
kidding and with how good she was last year and
you know, reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. There
were moments where you know, you watch her and you go, yeah, man,

(50:27):
she's just a sophomore and she didn't have much experience
freshman year. You know, what's the ceiling here? What is
what's her potential really look like? And I think part
of meeting that potential is getting stronger upping that conditioning.
She will still be leaned on.

Speaker 6 (50:48):
That's just the way that it goes.

Speaker 3 (50:50):
She's Claria Strack with grave power, you know, comes great
responsibility and for her to be embracing it in that way.
She's also really working on her shops. She wants to
become a better shooter. I saw her drain several threes
yesterday and obviously she was doing a little bit of

(51:10):
that last year. But it's just continuing to expand the
skill set is what she's been focusing on and pairing
it with that strength and conditioning, taking it really seriously
because she knows that that's going to enhance her game.
I think she is due for a step up, as

(51:30):
funny as that is to say she I think she's
going to elevate this season.

Speaker 1 (51:35):
Well, the stronger you are, the better your range and
obviously your legs will be with you late in the game.
And yeah, they're going to lean on her, but of course,
as you say, some of the other players as well,
players on the other team in the lane. We're talking
to Carolina Mcoskas to the Haro Leader. We'll come back
and talk more basketball in just a minute. Hair on
a big boone sider six thirty WLAP Welcome back. We're
talking with Caroline Mcoskas of the Harold Leader. She covers,

(51:57):
among other things, UK women's basketball. Before I go on, though,
I did want to fill in a little bit of
your background. You and I were chatting in a game.
You're a Texas X right went to the University of
Texas well, I am, yeah, but you're not from Texas.

Speaker 3 (52:14):
No, I'm from right outside of Chicago. Shout out to Wheaton, Illinois.

Speaker 1 (52:18):
There you go, There you go. But ended up at
UT Why journalism.

Speaker 3 (52:23):
I would hope journalism and film. I double majored when
I was down there, and I wanted to move somewhere
that i'd never been, get a completely new experience. And
Austin is such a cool place and it was an
awesome place to go to school. And you know, you
want the sports background, you want people to really be

(52:44):
invested in that type of brand. It was a cool
place to learn.

Speaker 1 (52:48):
Now why film.

Speaker 3 (52:51):
First? Love film and sports?

Speaker 6 (52:55):
Back and neck there.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
I've always wanted to be a writer since the day
I was born, and I was going to movies all
the time with my dad growing up. As soon as
I was old enough to sit still. The whole time,
I felt like we were going. Yeah, and we were
going all the time. And it's still one of my
favorite things to do. I've got The Godfather Part two

(53:17):
queued up for the next time. I have, you know,
three and a half hours. I'm hoping tonight. Oh, keep
your fingers crossed for me. But yeah, it was a
hard thing to not pursue. And I think it's connected.
You're telling a story.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
Oh yeah. And one of my closest friends in college
went to Southern cal Film School out of u K.
I helped him move across the country to Los Angeles
and he is like a fun road trip. Oh yeah,
it was. We stopped in Vegas, stopped at the Grand Canyon,
all that. But you know, he had to fight his
way up and had a productive career. He's sort of

(53:56):
semi retired now and moved to Reno, but still keeps
his thumb in the in the business when he can,
but it's ultra competitive. But when he and I would
go to a movie, at the end of course, like
all film people, he has to watch all the credits,
all of them because it's either like I know that guy,
I used to work with that guy, she did, it's something.

(54:18):
Do you know I was up for this? Didn't get it?
Oh he got that kind of stuff. But at the
end I would look at him as did we.

Speaker 7 (54:25):
Like it, you know?

Speaker 1 (54:26):
And he would tell me why we liked it and
why we didn't. But as a professional sports writer now
and someone keenly interested in film, are you especially critical
when it comes to sports movies or do you skip
them all together?

Speaker 3 (54:41):
This is something that I feel like me and some
of my coworkers talk about a lot. I think it
depends on the movie. A good movie is a good movie.
But man, I didn't think I was going to be
talking about Air starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck today,
But I guess I am. That's an example of a

(55:04):
movie that.

Speaker 7 (55:05):
I just.

Speaker 3 (55:08):
And a lot of my other friends who are sports writers.
There's something about it that just doesn't speak to you
in the same way. I don't know what it is.
I don't know if it's too much of a we
know how the sausage is made, so it's hard to
appreciate it from the perspective of or you know, the

(55:30):
audience goal of, Hey, this is a little bit of insight.
I think it's hard to separate the criticism there. But
I love a sports documentary that that's where the intersection
really shines for me. I recently watched, actually, our one
of our sister papers, the Charlotte Observer, just put out

(55:54):
a documentary on the twenty fifteen Charlotte Panthers team. It's
about an hour and uh it's it's you know, that
journey to the Super Bowl, Uh, where they ultimately lose,
but it's a great team with you know, Cam Newton
and Luke say yeah, uh.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
But only now putting it out that it's only only.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
Yeah, hey, ten year retrospective.

Speaker 1 (56:20):
Yeah, I guess, so, I guess. So what am I saying?
We did a twenty year on the on the nineteen
ninety six Kentucky Championship team. Of course that was built.
That dock was built around the reunion down in Miami
on a party boat. So uh, and it turned out okay.
So anyway, well that's interesting. Sometime next time we're at
a ballgame and between uh, during timeouts, we'll have to

(56:40):
compare notes on on sports movies that we like and
and something are and I don't know, I guess I'll
have to see Happy Gilmore two. I wasn't knocked out
by Happy Gilmore one like everybody else was. But what
the heck, I'm gonna diet my toe back into water,
I guess.

Speaker 3 (56:55):
Yeah, give it, give it a go. I've not yet
watched that one either, but I know it's it's quite popular.

Speaker 1 (57:02):
Right now, let me recommend if you don't, haven't seen
it on Apple TV. Uh, there's a serial limited series
called Stick and it's about golf. Did you watch it?

Speaker 6 (57:12):
I've not watched it.

Speaker 3 (57:14):
Everyone around me has watched it and given it great reviews.

Speaker 1 (57:18):
Yes, and they really worked hard to give it a feel.
I mean, you know, it's not a real golf tournament
or whatever, but it feels right. It feels really really good,
and it's well acted and all that.

Speaker 4 (57:28):
So uh.

Speaker 1 (57:29):
Yeah, but there are so many of them out there,
you know, and some of them that aren't meant to
be documentaries that are just fun to watch. You know,
my kids growing up, I watched Angels in the Outfield
every night, stuff like that.

Speaker 6 (57:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (57:43):
Yeah, and that's a good one. Yeah, it's so hard,
it's so hard to parse through.

Speaker 1 (57:50):
Major League is always going to be there.

Speaker 3 (57:53):
Major League Bull Durham, Bull Durham's Great.

Speaker 1 (57:56):
Bull Durham maybe my favorite. Or The naw Troll, which
is entirely as you know, different kind of movie. It
depends on which one I saw most recently, you know, uh,
because and I read the book The Natural, which you
know ends differently. But and then of course feel the dreams.
You know, you're a sap if you don't choke up again.

(58:18):
Yeah yeah, we could go on all night, but uh yeah,
we're gonna have to put our heads again or come
up with a list, and next time you're on, we'll
just devote it to movies. How about that?

Speaker 3 (58:27):
That sounds great? But watch that Carolina Panthers. It's really interesting.

Speaker 1 (58:32):
How do I find it?

Speaker 3 (58:34):
It's on YouTube for free?

Speaker 1 (58:35):
Okay, good deal, I will I will pull that up.
Maybe I'll learn a few things. I put some documentaries
together in my day. You can always learn, right, you know. Yeah,
all right, well Caroline, thank you so much and we'll
see you at the next ballgame.

Speaker 3 (58:48):
Sounds good.

Speaker 1 (58:48):
Thank you, And up next sportscaster Michael Epps, who is
wrapping up his stay in Lectionidon at Fox fifty six.
That's coming up on the Big Moon Sider six thirty
w LAP, Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Joining
us now for the next I don't know, twenty four hours.
A little bit more is Michael lefts the sports director
at Fox fifty six. But Michael, let us start off

(59:10):
by saying, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for you, you are
moving on. That's part of the business. You've been here
for four years. But tomorrow is that, right? Is your
last day at Fox fifty six.

Speaker 6 (59:21):
Yes, there's Friday for tomorrow. Yeah, it's it's deferently mutual.
It was a situation where, you know, I've had a
great time here in Lexington. I started off as a
weekend guy and now the sports director, and you know,
time time for a new chapter, time for a change.
And you know, they they had, you know, gaming an

(59:44):
offer to stay, which wasn't quite what I was looking for,
and so you know, it was kind of the best football.
So I'm really really excited for the future and taking
the next step in my career. The plans on that
are still in the work, okay, so hopefully i'll be
figured up soon.

Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
You intend to stay in local TV or.

Speaker 7 (01:00:03):
What I do?

Speaker 6 (01:00:05):
Yeah, somewhere in a bigger market with professional team kind
of take.

Speaker 1 (01:00:10):
That's that's normal at the stage your career for a
guy your age. But I jokingly have called you, although
with the admiration, the road warrior, because I'll be at
a Kentucky football game. I was in Gainesville and turned
around and there you were. I mean, you've put in
the miles, You've put in the time, haven't you. But
in our line of work, that's the labor of love,
isn't it.

Speaker 6 (01:00:30):
Yeah, And I've enjoyed it, you know, sometimes crashing out
a friend's couch, you know, to since the station wasn't
going to be paying for a hotel for that game,
and you know, like, uh, you know, I always I
wanted to be at everything as much as I could,
in football and basketball, even even when the football team
wasn't very good. And you know, I just I find

(01:00:50):
the part the fun in that being on the field
and being at these games, these moments. So I'm hoping
that I'll be having the opportunity to do that at
my next location.

Speaker 1 (01:00:59):
It's interesting you bring up a great point about covering
teams that are good that aren't good. If there are
a lot of games like basketball or baseball, and it's
a team that is struggling, it is a bit of
a slog, isn't it, to get there? But even if
a football team is struggling, it's just once a week
for twelve weeks, So there's that build up through the week.
It's almost like a Broadway show, you know, and the

(01:01:21):
curtain rises and what's gonna happen next? So football is
a bit of a different animal, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (01:01:28):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (01:01:28):
And the football basketball overlap is a busy time here.
Oh yeah, from media day for basketball all the way
till the end of football. So I wonder if, like
it was last year, after some losses, it's like, well,
this is a fan saying, oh, this is a basketball
school anyways, and you know, the beat members just saying, oh,

(01:01:52):
you can't get through basketball soon enough, you know. And
I hope, I hope the football teams is better than that.

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
I've been through a few of those seasons when it
comes to football, fortunately and or Mark Stoups not that many.
But before we talk about this upcoming season, because you
know you might be leaving, but of course you've got
a lot of knowledge about this upcoming team, let's talk
about your time here. Have you in your own mind
kind of parsed out the highlights? I mean, you know

(01:02:22):
what you're going to remember the most about your four
years here.

Speaker 6 (01:02:26):
Yeah, Well, I touch a great time with Mitch Brown
and Nicole who were part of our initial team. Remember
Fox fIF and six. I've been around, like I said,
for a while, but we weren't our independent you know,
we weren't independent. We weren't our own station for a
long time. Terms of new right, Yeah, we had our
launch in on January one, twenty twenty two. So I

(01:02:50):
got here in the fall of twenty twenty one to
launch a brand new sports department. And you know, Mitch
did a great job with that a sports director, and
you know I've helped him out with that, with setting
the foundation for Fox fifty six Sports and was able
to continue that as the lead man myself. And so
I think being a part of history, you know in

(01:03:12):
this market, however, big or small, it is, it's still history,
you know. So that was really fun and I think, uh,
I think hopefully I made an impact on this market.

Speaker 4 (01:03:22):
You know.

Speaker 6 (01:03:22):
I wasn't afraid to ask tough questions and press conferences.
And I know Mark Soops would agree with me there.
I've had some some tough ones and he kind of
maybe maybe grown sometimes when he sees we start to
ask a question. But that's part of the job. So
I hope that's a small legacy there that I've left too.
And I've just had so much fun here.

Speaker 7 (01:03:43):
You know.

Speaker 6 (01:03:43):
The horse racing is a blast, as I've talked to
you about, and it's a great market, it's a great talent.
I'm gonna love it forever.

Speaker 1 (01:03:50):
Do you know much about horse racing when you got here?

Speaker 6 (01:03:54):
Yeah, so I mentioned you I grew up going to Saratoga,
that's right, every summer, and so you know, I was
always around horse racing, but then coming here and actually
getting in the nitty gritty of it, it was. It
was a blast. So I'm going to be coming back
to visit Left and Kink, coming the Keyland, maybe even
on a yearly basis. I love that Spring meet like

(01:04:15):
nothing else. So I'm hopefully going to be back here
in April. We come visit and see some friends here
in town, because I love the blue grass.

Speaker 1 (01:04:25):
Talking to Michael Levs from Fox fifty six. So though
he will be wrapping up this portion of his career tomorrow,
it's his last day at w dky and he was
referring to the fact that, for the longest time, WKYT
produced the news for Fox fifty six. Although Marvin Bartlett
had been the sole consistent anchor on that newscast from

(01:04:48):
day one, Marvin was never on kyt's There was always
the Fox fifty six guy, but the rest of us
kind of filled in around him, and it was my
good fortune every now and then to anchor the sports
on Fox fifty six. But yeah, they did launched their
own newscast, their own news operation. That's a big deal.
I mean, people don't realize what goes into that. Michael.
That had to be exciting to be a part of

(01:05:09):
that as a startup.

Speaker 6 (01:05:12):
Yeah it was, and I wasn't quite sure how it
was going to go when I got the job. I
just needed a job first of all, because I was
down in Johnson City, Tennessee, and I didn't sign my
contract to come to Lexington until my final week in
my contract down in Johnson City, so I was very
close to being out of a job. So it came

(01:05:33):
at a good time and came in here and really
just all three of us, we just came in here
want and go to work and you know, try to
make ourselves be a legit player in this market. You know,
we really targeted high school sports as what we wanted
our niche to be. And in that first year we
won the KBA Award for best Prep Show with our

(01:05:58):
home team Friday night coverage, and we really took pride
in that. So but yeah, the whole station, Yeah, I
mean our news director Mark Glover. You had to hire
a whole news thirty plus people in the stand of
a few months. So they did a great job. Mark
and my GM Monty both two great bosses that I've

(01:06:19):
had a great pleasure to work for. So the station's
great and I know that the sports department will do
just fine here in its third chapter, I guess of
its history with its next next direction.

Speaker 1 (01:06:32):
I remember when you all won that award and I
was like, wow, they just got started. What do you
think sets your high school coverage apart.

Speaker 6 (01:06:41):
Yeah, well, you know, Mitch Brown also won the KBA
Sportscaster of the Year and then I won it the
following year, so that was fun too to kind of
keep that going and make our imprint right away. And
I think the high school stuff is just you know,
we made an emphasis to go to as many games

(01:07:03):
as possible, and more games than the other stations. And
you know, I'll admit it, I watched the other stations
just to see what the competition was like, and I
was like, well, I think we could do better, and
in my opinion, we did. We went to more games,
and we had a kind of a different style on
our show where we were kind of more laid back.

(01:07:23):
We didn't wear suits like we normally do on newscasts,
you know, we we wear you know, button ups and polos,
kind of dressed down a little bit, make it more
casual because that's what the station wanted and thought that
would be a good kind of vision for just a
vibe of the show and how to market it. And

(01:07:44):
and I think it worked. People, especially for high school sports.
You know, they don't they don't really need to see
the suits. They just kind of want to have fun
and they want to They want to watch their you know,
you know, grandson, go catch a touchdown on the highlights,
you know, or but you know, coaches and players watch too,
you know. After the games, they shower, shower, go home

(01:08:05):
and get home in time for our ten thirty spot,
which was also a plus for us. We were on
at ten thirty, yep, and we did an hour a
half hour of the other station didn't start till eleven
fifteen when they did their show, so we beat them.
And a number of people at games came up and
told me, oh, we love you guys. We love that
you're on earlier. We don't want to stay up, so
we watch you guys and we go to bed. I'm like, hey,

(01:08:27):
that's fantastic that.

Speaker 1 (01:08:29):
Oh yeah, hey. Ratings for the ten o'clock news from
Jump were good in this market, and for that reason,
people said, yeah, I don't want to stay up that
la plus and I was so glad that you guys
got that additional time. Having deep roots in local TVs,
you know, you know, and hearing from news directors and
consultants about how sports don't matter, nobody cares, you know,

(01:08:50):
but shows like yours and the show we used to
do at KYT. We did a forty five minute show
on Saturday Night that it was great. It was a
magazine shows. So yeah, that's that's a nerve that none
of us needs to have punched at because we're all
super sensitive to it. Michael EPs is the sports director
for the next Day at Fox fifty six. He's wrapping

(01:09:12):
up his stay in Lexington tomorrow. We'll come back and
talk about this year's Kentucky team in just a minute
on the Big Blue Sider six point thirty WLAP Welcome back.
We're talking with Michael Epps with Fox fifty six. He
is wrapping up his stay in Lexington tomorrow and at
w dk Y moving on to greener pastures. But you've
been preparing stories throughout the summer when you can on

(01:09:34):
both UK football, basketball, whatever comes up. But from wherever
you are, as you're looking in on UK football, what
do you think you're going to see this year?

Speaker 6 (01:09:46):
Yeah? I hope that they're good enough to make a
bowl game. But I was kind of looking at the
schedule and kind of centered one of my segments on
Fox around the first five games because I think that'll
tell a lot about how the rest of the season
is going to go you have. You know, it's kind
of a tough opener, but you should win that against Toledo. Obviously,

(01:10:09):
Week two at home against ole Miss, it's going to
be a tough game.

Speaker 4 (01:10:12):
You pulled off the.

Speaker 6 (01:10:13):
Upset last fall down in Oxford, which was stunning and
was their only SEC wins. You would think Ole Miss
is going to try to come up here and get
some revenge in that ball game. But then you got
Eastern Michigan a bye week. If you're so if you're
two and one.

Speaker 7 (01:10:30):
There, that's okay.

Speaker 6 (01:10:32):
But then at South Carolina at Georgia is pretty tough.
At george is going to be a loss, and at
South Carolina's going to be difficult. They are really high
on Leonora's Sellers out there. I was talking to to
my buddy out there in Greenville, who you know, their
station covers the game Cocks and mainly Clemson, but everybody

(01:10:53):
is super high on leonora Sellers. So and that's a
tough place to play. I know you've been there, and
I was there for the first time two years ago.

Speaker 1 (01:11:00):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (01:11:00):
Gosh, just an awesome atmosphere. It's crazy with enter Sandman
and a tough place to play. So if you're two
and three in those first five games, I mean, forget
about it. You're maybe get going four and eight. But like,
because then you got Tennessee, Texas, Auburn Florida. I mean
at Auburn Florida is going to be really tough. DJ

(01:11:21):
Lagway is gonna be awesome. So it's going to get
ugly quick. So in those in these first five games,
if you can be three and two, I think then
you'll have a chance to get the six wins. But
if you're two and three in that stretch, it's going
to be tough to watch.

Speaker 1 (01:11:34):
You know. You mentioned Old Miss and Kentucky did do
a remarkable job down there, and it made me wonder
where did that team go. But that's a discussion for
another day because this is a different team. I mean,
fifty new players on this Kentucky team. But Kentucky Old Miss.
You mentioned a couple other teams that have new quarterbacks.

(01:11:58):
It's a matter. I think there are eight quarterbacks brand
new quarterbacks starting qbs in the SEC thanks to the portal,
thanks to attrition. But yeah, you mentioned Sellers, you mentioned Lagway.
Those are two of the best in the conference. Uh.
And and now you know, Kentucky with yet another new
starting quarterback. So you know, it's hard to say what
you're looking at, not to mention a brand new offensive line,

(01:12:21):
you know what I mean?

Speaker 6 (01:12:22):
Yeah, and the and no offense to Zach Calzada, but
you might have the worst one of the new one.
You have an FTS quarterback, you know, sts transfer and
that's no insult to him. And he does have sec experience,
he's won games in this contract. Maybe that's a little
unfair for me to say we got to wait till
he gets out there on the field. And Mark Soups
did say on Monday, asked by our sports supporter Jourin

(01:12:45):
Adams Uh that if the season were to start tomorrow,
who would it be and uh and Soups said, yeah,
tomorrow would be it'd be Zach. But a lot of
things can change. It will be Zach. I'm sure.

Speaker 5 (01:12:56):
You know.

Speaker 6 (01:12:57):
Cutter Bowley had his opportunities last year, you know, turn
the ball over a little too much and his limited opportunities.
I still think he could be a good quarterback. I
just don't know where his role really lies at this point.
If Zach comes in and it looks good, right away.
He's going to be the guy all season, and maybe
Cutter hits the portal, which is a bummer because I
like him the LCA kid, local kid. But at the

(01:13:19):
end of the day, you just got Stoops is going
to have to just try to win as many football games,
like desperately as possible, because if he goes four and
eight again, I really don't see how the program can
continue moving forward with him there. And I do think
that it'll be his last season if that's what happens.
They were rumbles about that last year, but the buyout

(01:13:40):
was just so high. I don't think they were the
athletic department was going to want to come up with
the money to make that happen, and they thought that
there's still a chance here with Stoop, a motivated Mark Stoops,
and you know, hopefully he can you know, write the
ship here a little bit. I just don't know if
the roster is there, it's the talents there. I think
he's there. I think he's more debated, but I don't

(01:14:01):
think they're gonna be good enough to compete in most
of these SC games.

Speaker 1 (01:14:04):
Well, everybody's rebuilding, everybody's got folks coming in and out,
of the portal, you know, so you just got to
keep up. And what I love the.

Speaker 6 (01:14:13):
Running get, I don't love the backs to you know.
Part of what kept Stoops going is all these thousand
yard rushers that he got, you know, Snell and Chris
Rodriguez and and then Ray Davis for a year, even
in a down season, you still had Ray getting a
thousand yard I don't know what this group of new
group of running backs is going to look like. The
offensive line, as you mentioned a couple of years ago,

(01:14:35):
they were They were fifth worst in the nation and
secs allowed, which is just stunning for an SEC talent
pool to to be that bad at protecting the quarterback.
And they won't be as bad they're Stoops bragged about
them being bigger in his press conference, so we'll let
translate to, you know, better protection for the new quarterback.
I don't know, but they're they're gonna have to worry

(01:14:57):
about run blocking too, which which they didn't have a
problem with with great running backs. So this could be
not a one dimensional offense, but a zero dimensional offense,
which is the nightmare in this count.

Speaker 1 (01:15:09):
It all comes back to the old line quite frankly,
and when you look back on Stoops's best teams, and
you mentioned Benny Snow, Chris Rodriguez, and there were other backs,
but they were running behind old lineman, some of whom
are in the NFL now, you know. So I learned
a long time ago when you evaluate a team on
offense or defense, it always comes back to the old

(01:15:30):
line because the old line determines where the defense has
to square up against the other guys when it comes
to field positions. So yeah, I mean, yeah, they've got
big guys, but can they play. The resume for most
of these guys says yes. A lot of them were
all Conference, but they weren't in the SEC, so we
will see. I got a couple of minutes left them
with Michael LEPs. But let me ask you about covering

(01:15:51):
Mark Pope's first year and what you expect for the
upcoming season.

Speaker 6 (01:15:56):
Oh man, I was actually just watching some clips from
our coverage of that press conference, and it was just
pretty amazing to go in there and see the stands
just get more and more full. I mean, it was
getting packed packed impact and eventually the currentin that they
had behind the stage kind of blocking that half of

(01:16:19):
the lower bowl, half of the arena. They just had
to take the curtain down and they filled that place
three hundred and sixty degrees around the states for a
press conference. It was truly one of the most stunning
moments that I've seen in my career. It was pretty
amazing and it kind of hit me, you know, Kentucky basketball,

(01:16:39):
that's what it's like covering heaslay basketball here because the
early exits where all we had and that was frustrating.
So they at least they made it out the first
weekend for the first time in twenty nineteen. Our popes
clearly got something cooking it. And he's a great guy.
He's great with the media, as you know, and you know,
gave us those sit down interviews last summer, which is

(01:17:00):
it's an awesome opportunity for me. And so he's doing
well and I'm rooting for him.

Speaker 7 (01:17:05):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:17:05):
I will tell you is wherever you go and I
do wish you well. When you tell people about your
stay in Lexington, I guarantee you that's one story you'll
tell and they won't believe you. That for a press
conference turned into a pep rally when they hired a
new coach. But then on the other end, they say, well,
that's Kentucky, you know. But buddy, I've been here for

(01:17:26):
the longest time. I've been here more than fifty years.
I've never seen anything like that either. So you bring
up a good point, Michael. Best of luck to you.
I thank you for your time here. Keep in touch,
and if you ever have anything that you think might
be interesting to our listeners, give me a holler.

Speaker 7 (01:17:41):
Thank you, Dick.

Speaker 6 (01:17:41):
I appreciate you. You were the first radio sports radio
call I've ever had. You know, I was an extra
coming on, you know, nobody ever did it before in
my first market. You grabbed me pretty early in my
time here, and I've really enjoyed being on your show
throughout the year. So I'm gonna miss it. Gonna miss
you and some some great guys on the feet, uh

(01:18:03):
and and certainly my some coworkers here at the station.
Really gonna miss and. And so it's sent such a
great time of election. And I love that, love the bluegrass.
I could see myself coming back here maybe maybe down
the line, but but some some future endeavors ahead, which
which I'm excited about. So thank you, Dick. I appreciate it, and.

Speaker 1 (01:18:21):
It'll be interesting to see who is promoted. I assume
they will promote from within UH as sports director and
the main sports presence, the lead anchor at Fox fifty six,
and then they'll bring somebody in from out of town.
We will meet them here on the big bloom side.
I assumed to fill the spotlet behind by Michael, but
he kind of touched on something that UH. And then

(01:18:42):
I've kind of gotten into it a little bit here
on the show now that I'm out of local TV.
But there have been not enough people in terms of
management coming through this town who really understand the value
of sports. And that's the that's the case throughout the country.
You know, when the newshole, as they put it, is shrinking,

(01:19:03):
there's less time for news, less time for weather, less
time for sports. When they chop time, the first thing
they do is chop sports because they're not going to
chop weather. Appreciably, that's a bigger deal than most people understand.
And a news director is not going to cut news
before he cut sports. Let me tell you who had
it knocked. That was the late great Ralph Gabber. Not
to throw shade at any other GM, but that was

(01:19:25):
the guy who brought UK sports to Channel twenty seven WKYT.
And that's what helped build that station into what it became.
And I was a reading giant for a long time.
We'll talk more about that on another day. For now,
that's a good night from the garage. In election, the listen.

Speaker 7 (01:19:41):
If I get killed, my blood is on your hands.
Just don't get it on my shoes.

Speaker 10 (01:19:44):
Today, tact.

Speaker 8 (01:20:25):
Taping the.

Speaker 6 (01:20:35):
Show.

Speaker 8 (01:20:37):
Anything can do anything. Then sat like status.

Speaker 5 (01:21:21):
It don't

Speaker 8 (01:21:25):
Don't tou