2025-08-22 - BBI - Big Blue Insider with Dick Gabriel

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Big Blue and Sider Day. Gabriel with
you on a Friday edition of our show. That's right tomorrow,
it'll be one week from opening day, meaning we are
eight days away from not just Kentucky football, but Ekau
football as well. We'll talk about the Colonels tonight with
a voice of Ekau football Greg Stottlemeyer. Also, obviously we'll
talk about the football Cats. The UK volleyball Wildcats open

(00:23):
up on Saturday, August thirtieth as well down in Nashville
against Lipscomb. Then the next day they play against Nebraska.
So a big weekend for Craig Skinners team. As we
draw so close, the magic number, as I said, eight,
Cutter Bowley is number eight. You know who else was
number eight? Clyde Johnson. That's right, Clyde Johnson, who was

(00:44):
the first UK All American in college football history, named
the All American by the Associated Press. He was a
tackle following the nineteen forty two season, obviously first team
All Conference as well, went on to play a couple
of years in the NFL with the La Rams. I
don't think they were in LA by then. In forty

(01:05):
six and forty seven, I think they were still in Chicago.
So anyhow, Clyde Johnson at number eight, that's right, was
a tackle, but again eight days away. You gotta love that.
You don't have to love the decision by the SEC,
which came late yesterday afternoon to go to nine games.
And you saw this coming. There was so much chatter

(01:27):
about it, and especially when the house settlement came in
and schools had to suddenly come up with another twenty
million dollars. Another conference games, of course means more money,
means more TV money. They can renegotiate deals with the networks,
they can sell more tickets, they can upgrade season ticket packages,

(01:47):
and blah blah blah. But the SEC made its announcement
late yesterday, talked about being the leader in competitive, excellent
and fan excitement. So the presidents and chancellors followed a
recommendation by the league's athletics directors and Greg Sank, the Commissioner,
made the announcement. You know, if you've been following Kentucky football,

(02:09):
Mark Stoops opposed to this, of course, Mitch Barnhart opposed
to this, of course, and Barnard, of course, is the
athletics director has to come up or figure out a
way for his department to come up with this revenue,
but he wants to do what's best for his football program,
which is diametrically opposed in the eyes of chancellor's ads

(02:31):
and the commissioner opposed to what's good for the SEC.
And look Sankie's got to do what's best for the league.
And this was not his decision. He is following the
directive of the presidents and chancellors. But he's been pushing
for this and he's hip deep in all this playoff discussion.
And Sanke was on with Paul Feinbaum last night on

(02:53):
the SEC Network and basically said going to nine conference
games will help the SEC when it comes to the
postgame playoffs situation, because of course it's about strength to schedule,
and this forces every team in the league to play
a more difficult schedule. Therefore, the team that wins the SEC,

(03:17):
the teams finishing at or near the top of the
SEC will inherently have tougher schedules than the teams in
other conferences that shy away from tougher games. And that's
something Sankie talked about with Finebaum.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
So what's the right number of teams you know last year,
I think twelve was the right adjustment. I think at
the time that it was made, people thought, wow, that's
a lot. But twelve worked last year. Twelve's in place
this year. We've got a short runway to adjust otherwise.
And I'll be clear about this.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
I've said this.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
And other venues and in other speaking engagements. If we
don't change anything, if we can't agree to a different
number than we're at twelve and twenty six, that's clarity.
Whether you agree with that number or not, it's a
different conversation. And then how do we vet ideas. We
have to understand the impact of other ideas, and I

(04:14):
think there's a lot of work to be done before
you could just move into some of those categories. But
I'll go back to say, from a conference standpoint, we
would support moving to sixteen. We would support maximizing the
at larges, which by contractor by agreement, we have five
conference champions and so that eleven team out large model
within a sixteen team format still looms large in our

(04:37):
thinking scheduling.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Not to lose which is a direct I don't know
if it's a shot, but it's a reference to some
mute Indiana and teams are scheduling that way. Now, Indiana
dumbing down its schedule to keep from losing, And as
distasteful as that might be, because of the playoff situation,
now you'd have to say, well, why not. If that's

(04:59):
what gets you into the playoff, why not. And you
could also make the argument that Kentucky is opposed it
is because you're scheduling not to lose. Well, the Kentucky's
of the SEC, and I will say that maybe the
top quarter, the top twenty five percent, maybe the top
third of the league can look at it differently, but
the rest of the league has to look at it

(05:22):
that way of trying not to lose another game. And
as Barnard pointed out, immediately when you're adding another conference game,
half the teams in the league will lose another conference game.
And while it's great to talk about playing an SEC
opponent as opposed to a directional school or, with all
due respect, a MAX school, you know one of these

(05:43):
games that you don't have to return that you know,
it's exciting because it's a football game and it's game
day Saturday, but it's not the same excitement as an
SEC team coming in. I get that but now you've
got to worry about adding another loss, another chip in
the lost column, and half the teams in the league

(06:04):
are gonna have to do that, and half the coaches
in the league are taking l to their record, and
you know how tough it is to dig your way
through the Southeastern Conference. So you've got the league as
a whole trying to go in the direction that is
best for the league in general. And yes, if the
SEC prospers, if the SEC wins big, everybody prospers. Yeah,

(06:29):
But individually, coaches lose more games, fans see more losses
if you're talking about those mid level teams or the
teams at the bottom of the SEC, which sometimes rotate.
But for the longest time, thanks to Mark Stubes, Kentucky's
been in that middle tier with what we call the
swing games. And those swing games are tough enough to win.

(06:51):
They're gonna be tough to win this year. And you
got a couple coming at you early in SEC play,
particularly oh Miss game two of the year. But you've
also got to compete with Texas, you got to pete
with Georgia, and Kentucky fans believe their team should be
able to at least compete, and that's fair. Now, the
people who say there's no reason, I hear this all

(07:12):
the time. There's no reason Kentucky can't be one of
the top teams, And yes there is. There are many
reasons why you cannot expect that. And I always just
flip it and say, you want your team to be
the cream of SEC basketball, And by saying that, you're
saying there's no reason that UK basketball shouldn't be able

(07:35):
to fend off everybody else in the league and remain
on top of the conference, where it hasn't been for
a while. So think about that, think about that attitude,
and that's okay. You have a right to expect that
because we've seen it in Kentucky has everything you need,
including facilities, coaches, money, and tradition to do that. In
football you don't have that. I mean in basketball, you

(07:59):
don't have that in football. Other schools do. You're better
off now when it comes to all those things. Facilities, money, tradition.
You've got a little bit more now. But it's tough,
and it's getting tougher every year. And it just got
tougher thanks to the SEC going to nine games. And

(08:20):
I have banged this drum for years that I so
want for the sake of the Big Blue Nation as
well as the program, but for you, the fans, I
so want you all to be able to experience the
SEC football Championship game, whether you win it or not,

(08:42):
just getting to go to Atlanta to watch Kentucky play
in the SEC football title game. Think about the SEC
basketball tournament. How much fun is that? Okay, and you're
talking about a whole weekend or maybe starting in the
middle of the week three games. Well, now you're talking

(09:03):
about a one game experience on a Saturday for the
football championship. But if they get there, fans will go
in the middle of the week just to experience all
the stuff there is surrounding the game. You're not going
to roll in there on Saturday morning or Friday night.
I mean you could, but to really experience it. And

(09:25):
what most fans do. They get down there, some at
the beginning of the week, but most of them on
Thursday and just start partying through the game. And then
that game itself is unlike any other except maybe the
championship game, whatever bowl game that might be in that dome,
all that noise and the tickets are divided fifty to

(09:48):
fifty for the most part, and at the fifty yard
line you can see the delineation of colors. So let's
say if it's Kentucky from the fifty yard line down
to the left, all the way through the end is blue.
Unlet's say they're playing Arkansas from the fifty yard line
to the other direction, it's all red, the noise, the band.

(10:09):
I mean, it's unbelievable and I so want Kentucky fans
to be able to experience that. Riz Brooks had a
team that flirted with it. Mark SEUs has had two
teams that have flirted with it, and now it's tougher
than ever. And just when you think you might be
able to reach out and maybe just just get a

(10:30):
grasp of it, whoops, they moved one step further away
with a ninth game. The money's going to be there,
and in the big picture, it's probably best for the SEC,
but again, it's not best for Kentucky. And that's a
similar argument you can make about SEC expansion. You know,

(10:51):
has it been good for the SEC, Yeah, you bet
it has. Has it been good for college football? No?
Probably not. And now they're tough talking about even more
changes I do not run North Carolina in the SEC.
We'll talk about that on another night. That would be
bad for the league. I think, well financially be good
for the league, but it just doesn't fit and be

(11:13):
terrible for the ACC And if you like the traditions
of college sports, it would be awful. But that's where
we are right now. Coming up at the bottom of
the hour, we'll talk about a lot of stuff like
this and the Football Cat with John Hale of the
herold Leader covers the football Wildcat and of course, as
I said, Greg Stottlemeyer, who covers EKU athletics in I

(11:34):
think fifth decade now as the radio voice of the
Colonel's more to come on six thirty WLAP. Welcome back
to the Big Blue Insider one week from tomorrow Kentucky
and the Rockets of Toledo. Open it up and you
will hear the game right here on six thirty WLAP.
Christy Thomas and the Gang with the pregame, Tom Leech,

(11:54):
jeppichor or yours truly with a call as Mark Stoops
and company try to put that four and eighth season
definitely in the rearview mirror, and a lot of new
faces we're all going to find out together, aren't we
about this Kentucky team. There are so many, as we've
said all summer long, we're going to talk to John
Hale about this in a few minutes. So many questions marks,

(12:14):
so many storylines, and coming out of the spring, we
thought we had a pretty good handle on the running
back situation, but then Seth McGowan shows up another transfer.
So right now he and Dawdell are running one two,
which means ja Marian Willcox, who was an explosive, big
play but erratic guy last year, young guy, and Jordan

(12:38):
Patterson are running three, four, four to three, depending on
how you look at it. Mark Steups talked about both
Willcox and Patterson in the fact that you know they're young,
they're working hard, and they're just going to try to
get in when they.

Speaker 4 (12:51):
Can working, you know, just like we're all trying to do.
Just put your head down to work and get better.
And he's doing that. And you know, with you marry
on in a lot of our players are younger players
as we develop them. It's all it's a lot of
little things, right, just doing the little things, and he's
doing those things. He's mature and he's growing and we'll

(13:12):
continue to work with them. JP has looked good, I think,
you know, going back to the spring, probably you can
pull up a few quotes that have been impressed with him.
You know, he's a good player. He is very physical,
very tough, and he's been very reliable through this camp.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
And you know the good news about ideally you roll
up a lead on Toledo, which isn't going to be easy,
that's a good team pick the win the MAC. But
if you can now you can roll in the younger
running backs and get them some live reps in game situations,
not just scrimmages. But again, you got to put that
game away and maybe there are situations where you'll see

(13:52):
Patterson and or Wilcox before you know the fourth quarter.
But that's going to be interesting. What do they do
with the quarterbacks situation? If they can roll up a
lead on Toledo, do they put in the backup be
it Calzada or Cutter Bowlly. You know that Kalzada has
been named the QB one, but at the Louisville Alumni gathering,

(14:15):
Mark Stuff basically said it is still a quarterback battle.
Maybe Cutter Bully can jump up and win the job.
Who knows. I fully expect Kalzada to win it. But
Bush Hamden, the offensive coordinator, is trying to figure things
out with these two guys. And if you're putting the
QB one with the ones in terms of the O

(14:37):
line and the receivers in practice all the time, how
do you know what you have with Cutter bully if
he's only working with the twos. So they've mixed it
up a little bit, and ham Dan was asked about
how do you go about evaluating with a situation like that. Yeah,
it's a great question.

Speaker 5 (14:53):
It's never an exact science in that regard, right, you
might have one guy, like we've talked about who's taking
seventy five percent with the ones and so on and so forth.
But you know, Cutters deserve the opportunities he's got with
the ones.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
He's been able to move the.

Speaker 5 (15:05):
Ball well with them, and so we're always looking at that.
But you just try to do the best you can
with getting them as much reps with the ones and
then comparing that.

Speaker 1 (15:15):
To the whole group on the other side of the ball.
Defensive coordinator Brad White, who it appears has more depth
this year, than they had last year. That's one of
the things Mark Stoops has talked about why he likes
this year's team more than last. When it comes to
line play. He believes there's more depth on both sides
of the football, particularly defense, where preseason injuries going back

(15:38):
to the spring really hampered the Wildcats. White was asked
about depth, but again, as he said, you're never really
sure of that until the real games begin.

Speaker 6 (15:47):
It's an interesting question and that like you want to say, man,
we feel deep, like I but you just don't know.
You don't know what you have because sometimes those guys
that are the next one up, you don't know how
they're going to perform in a game. You like how
they've been out here on the practice field, you feel
good about it, but it's different on Saturdays, and especially

(16:09):
if it's a young guy that maybe hasn't had a
lot of snaps. You know, the goal is that when
they get in the game, they're ready and they're prepared
and they're going to execute. But you just don't know.
So it's a question that I don't know if I
can even answer that until you know week four or
five to say, okay, yep, we were a deep team,
because there were years in the past that I didn't
think we were real deep, and we were deeper than

(16:29):
we thought, and then there have been years where I
thought we were deep, and then we got some injuries
and it turned out that we weren't.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Interesting. He might not be able to tell what kind
of depth he has for the first four or five
weeks of the season, but think about it, that's by
then injuries shakeout and abilities shakeout, and you know you've
got a better idea of what you have up next.
John Halo The Hero Leader. He has covered both the
dollars and cents of UK football and athletics, and of

(16:58):
course the football Cats. Next on six thirty Wlap Welcome
back to the Big Moon Sider. Joining us on our
celebrity hotline. John Hale of The Hero Leader Busy Man
covers Kentucky football and John before we talk about this
Kentucky team, we need to talk about the news of
the day in the Southeastern Conference, which is the ninth game.

(17:19):
It seemed inevitable. They kind of sprung it on us yesterday,
so to that end, it was a bit of a surprise,
but not surprising that they've gone to the nine games
over the objections of several coaches, but the President's Chancellor's
ads voted it in. You recently wrote about the budget

(17:40):
and about the dollar figures that are being thrown around
to support Kentucky athletics. So in a way, as I
said earlier in the show, this makes things more difficult
in terms of Kentucky trying to get to the SEC
Championship game, but in terms of revenue streams, this should
be a help. Do you think I'm reading that right?

Speaker 7 (18:02):
Yeah? I think so. I mean, that's obviously I think
why they ended up doing it. I'm sure they got
some sort of guarantee from ESPN as to what they
were going to pay for that extra game every year,
and that money will trickle down to each school. Mitch
Barnhart has made the argument, he was probably the most
vocal opponent to nine Games about staying today games. Obviously,
part of that is the competitive reason and making Kentucky's

(18:24):
path to a bowl game as easy as possible, But
the other part of it is you lose a home
game now every other year, and that's one less gate,
one less ticket. We can debate how I did people
work to watch whatever Mac game they were going to
play in that home game anyway. But I assume the
math behind the scenes has told enough people that whatever

(18:45):
they're going to get from ESPN and increase conference revenues
distribution is going to offset the loss of that home
game every other year. We'll see what effect it has
on the non conference schedule in the future. But they
would not have made the decision if they thought it
was going to cost the money. Everybody's looking for more money,
so they certainly have been sued. They're going to get it.

Speaker 1 (19:05):
Yeah, and if you would, in a nutshell explain to
our listeners what Kentucky is doing if they haven't already
followed this story. Financially, it is kind of interesting that
for many, many years the athletics department has given money
to the general fund to support the universities general fund,
and now the cleats are on the other foot, aren't they.

(19:26):
They're having to borrow money from the university.

Speaker 7 (19:29):
Yeah, it's interesting. They were one of the few self
sufficient athletic departments in the country before this revenue sharing
stuff when to effect, But now with the additional twenty
a half million dollars they're going to distribute to athletes
every year, plus some additional expenses from inflation and just
the rising costs of some other stuff. They're projecting to
operate the deficit the next two years, and so to

(19:53):
cover that, they took a thirty one million dollar loan
from the university. They have to put it back with interests,
so it's not not like a subsidy, is an actual
loan that they're going to pay back I think starting
in twenty twenty eight. So that's to cover the operating
budget the next two years. But then the other question
is they have to figure out, well, how do we
get back to being self sufficient, how do we raise
revenue to cover this new expense, And to do that,

(20:16):
they took another one hundred and ten million dollars loan,
which is going to basically provide cash up front to
do some of these facility improvements. The big one for
that is they're building a new luxury club space in
the West End zone at Brugerfield, So the one opposite
the recruiting room where there's just seats right now, there
will be a new club space there I think twenty

(20:36):
twenty sevens the goal for that, and then the revenue
they hope to make from selling tickets to that will
be a big part of them getting back to financial
operating in the black again in a couple of years.
Twenty seven to twenty eights, the year they project to
be back positive. We'll see if that actually happens. You know.
Obviously the football team being good is going to help

(20:56):
them sell tickets if that is the case. They're also
and they're going to build an entertainment district outside the stadium.
That's still early days, that's probably four or five years
away from the earliest, but you know, hotels, restaurants, stuff
where they can build, you know, generate revenue year round.
They've talked a lot about using the stadium for more,
more concerts, more other events. The Tyler Childer's concert was

(21:19):
a success back in April. They're going to try and
do that, I think a couple of times a year,
something similar at Barnhart throughout the idea of like let's
try and get a winner classic hockey game here. I
don't think that's very realistic, but they certainly are looking
at at ways to get the stadium. You just can't
use it, you know, seven eight, nine times a year,
which is the currently Obviously, they have the high school

(21:40):
championships was helped. There's some other campus events there during
the year, but he wants to get that to like
twenty twenty five times a year using that facility, and
that will help them generate more revenue. And then the
other big piece of this is, you know, now that
they're going to nine games, the revenue is going to
come from ESPN and the new SEC deal. We'll see
how that works too well.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
And in terms of using the stadium, they have the
same challenge that faces Rupp Arena, and that is, yeah,
you can rent it out, but just to open the gates,
turn on the lights, provide whatever personnel are needed within
the stadium. At minimum, it's expensive, so it has to
be a fairly high profile event. You know, I worked

(22:20):
in Texas for a couple of years, as you know,
and down there they would use the to say the
Juco stadiums or some of the stadiums that are bigger
than high school stadiums for multiple events. But those didn't
nearly cost what it costs to open up a Division
one college football stadium. So you know, concerts are basically
I would think the only I'd love to see a

(22:41):
hockey game there, the only option. Now I'm intrigued and
a bit skeptical about the entertainment district. Hotels, restaurants, where
do you put those? I mean, what do you do?
You know, what do you do? You buy up land?

Speaker 7 (22:55):
And yeah, exactly have segway parking, which is not going
to make people happy or football games. I mean, Kentucky
has one of the best parking situations for football games
in the conference, like most other schools just don't have that.
I'm out parking around and they're clearly making the decision
that they're just going to give some of that up,
and so that's going to be I mean, it certainly
will be a problem for the campus because students park

(23:17):
in that lot all week long, right, and then they
have to bring their cars on the weekends for the
football game. So like that will be a debate for sure.
I think a bunch of hospital employees park there during
the week So that's be a problem. That's going to
be a debate that people are not going to be
happy about. But that's the decision that appears they're making.
They I was told they also have a little bit
of space around Memorial Cosseum. Obviously there's the old stole

(23:39):
Field site across the field or across the lay there's
the parking lot behind, like maybe they can build something there,
but it seems like it's mostly going to be around
the football stadium and to you know, figure it out
from there. The concert. I got the numbers on the
Tyler Childer's concert, and to your point about like Kentucky
had to supply all of the staff, like all of
the ushers and all those are the people who go

(23:59):
on football games. And they made about a million dollars total.
I think it was like two million profit and they
split it fifty to fifty with Live Nation, the booking
company for Tyler Childers. So like that's not insubstantial. I mean,
it certainly helps, but it's not going to cover that
twenty and a half million dollars on its own. That
that gives you an idea of like each one of
these events. If you're looking at a million dollars, whatever

(24:21):
you got to you got to pile those up. So
I mean, like the bananas are I think I played
at football stadium a couple of times. I'm sure I'm
certain that they would love to get something like that there.
But you know, we'll see how realistic it is because
those kind of events. Everybody wants those and the concerts
that's interesting too, Tyler Childers, Chris Stables in the year before.
Those guys are local, have this local connection. If you

(24:42):
don't have, you know, two superstars from Kentucky, you're going
to have trouble like who is big enough to play
a stadium concert but wouldn't prefer just to go to
Cincinnati or Nashville or Indianapolis or Louisville somewhere around. So
that that will be an interesting kind of needle to
thread too.

Speaker 1 (24:57):
And you know, getting back to the football sign things.
What's interesting about all the creature comforts they're hoping to
fold into the fan experience and you know, draw more people,
sell more tickets, more fannies in the seats. College football now,
especially a league like the SEC, as you know, is
competing with itself because with all the television coverage now

(25:19):
and this was totally predictable, Every game on TV now
high production values. Everybody's got a big screen TV and
we've talked about it John at length, you and me
and every other media person out there. For a lot
of people, it's just easier and more fun at times
to stay home and watch the games and not pay
the high prices for concessions. Relatively speaking, the fan experience

(25:44):
is still I think tremendous at a game, but when
you fold in parking and all that stuff, and again
big screen TVs, HDTV, so many people are opting to
stay home.

Speaker 7 (25:56):
Yeah, it's a huge part of it. I mean, I
know that every time I go to concert or a
game or something like that, it's always a headache to
get in and out. And then you know the contession lines,
the bathroom minds, all of that. When you're at home,
you have a giant TV. It's right there. So that's
going to have to be part of it. I mean,
as the project to build a new luxury suite in
the West End zone also includes Wi Fi throughout the stadium,

(26:17):
it's ridiculous they haven't already done that. Like in twenty
twenty five, you have to have Wi Fi in your
stadium as one of those fan amenities. So that is coming.
That helps, But in terms of the regular fan, so
much of where they make their money on these luxury
suites and club spaces. They're renovating in the corner luxury
suites that they built in what ninety nine and haven't

(26:37):
really touched since then. Those are going to be renovated.
I think as soon as the season ends they're going
to start that process, so they'll probably get some more
money out of those, But the Wi Fi is a
couple of years away from being there. They need to
figure out ways to make the overall experience more appealing. Otherwise,
sports at UK and everywhere across the country, that's going
to continue to be the trend.

Speaker 1 (26:57):
As John Halo The Hero Leader covers the football Wildcats,
we'll come back and actually talk football on the other
side of the break. We'll leave all this money stuff behind.
On six point thirty WLAP Welcome back, we're talking with
John Halo, the Hero Leader covers the Wildcats and you
can also read him at Kentucky dot com and summer
camp quote unquote air quotes is over and the actual

(27:20):
game plan it's already underway. As Brad White pointed out yesterday,
they've been working on Toledo. But John, this is gonna
be one of the most intriguing seasons, if not season opener.
Then I can recall and you've covered Kentucky football for
a long time as well. With so much at stake,
with a coach and Mark Stoops, who had this program

(27:41):
where nobody ever thought it could be consistently, and then
all of a sudden he's trying to dig out from
a four win season and the challenges being amazing as
they are. The league has never been stronger, and now
fifty new faces trying to figure things out. I can't
wait to see this story unfold.

Speaker 7 (27:58):
Yeah, it's gonna be fascinat. I mean, I can't think
of a year that I've gone into it and felt
like I knew less the team what to expect, Like
they're just so many questions, Like I can sit there
and talk myself into them being like much better than
people expect by having a twenty sixteen twenty seventeen kind
of season where they get to a bowl game and
nobody's really picking that before the year. I can also
see plenty of scenarios where they got all these first

(28:21):
froom small schools and they just aren't good enough to
play at this level and they end up winning three
or four games like that. I think all of those
scenarios are on the table, and it does feel like
the pressure is so high on them to perform early,
Like I am not I don't think Mark Soops's job
is really at risk here just because of all those
financial things we were just talking about, and it's buy
out thirty eight million dollars they can't afford to fire in.

(28:42):
But it does feel like from a fan support, if
they want to have any hope of getting rid of
some of this negativity, they have to start fast, which
means not only have to beat the Ledo. You can't
just squeak by, because Tulito's a really good team, as
Brad White pointed out, they got votes in the preseason
ap Pole and Kentucky did not, right, But like, the
average fan is going to see Toledo Mac and expect

(29:03):
you to win dig and so if you're winning like
seventeen fourteen, that's not getting anybody excited. But then even
if you assume you beat Toledo and beat Eastern Michigan
in week three of the two MAC teams, those two
games against the Ole Miss in South Carolina in the
first month are just huge because like if you lose
both of those and you just sweep by your MAC
opponents or haven't read, you lose to Toledo, Like by

(29:24):
the time you get to the point in the schedule
where you can build some momentum, like nobody's going to
be paying attention more, especially at basketball starting and everything
that's so exciting about that program, and like Mark Poka
in the offseason like it's just going to be really
really bad in terms of negativity, buy in and all
of those things. And so it feels like they desperately
need to start fast, like handle Toledo, handle Eastern Michigan

(29:45):
and at least beat one of old messrs South Carolina
to really have a hope to get people back on
board and engaged in the support because it helps them
with their home attendance that they get you know, Texas
and Georgia at home and some like Marque opponents like
that will help us the attendance go up, But it
could get ugly really quick in terms of this Anton

(30:05):
who's there, if they're if they have that first month
of the season. So it does feel like we're going
to learn quickly, like what this team is and what
the outlook's going to be.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
I think we all agree that if the O line
is not markedly better, then we're going to be looking
to basketball a lot earlier than we had expected. Uh,
But I think John because of all these new faces
and all the question marks, and some of them are
so intriguing the wide receiver room, I think that has
diverted a little bit of attention away, believe it or

(30:36):
not from the quarterback battle now that is, you know,
generated its share of headlines and stoops. Announced caw Zada
as the QB one at the beginning of summer. But
over in Louisville he made it sound like it's neck
and neck right now with him and cut her bowlie.
But that's another chapter of this story. I think that
it's going to have a lot of different twists and turns. Perhaps.

Speaker 7 (30:58):
Yeah, I am fascinated as to why he's doing this
this week because, like my understanding is Zach Kalzotta has
taken almost every single first team rep ind camp. Like,
I just don't think there actually is a quarterback competition.
Like they clearly need Cutter Bollie to prepare as if
he's going to be the starter, because we know from
recent history that Kentucktive quarterbacks get hurt all the time.
And also because Calzada, he's the six year guy. He's

(31:21):
coming from two years at FCS. He did beat Alabama
famously at Texas A and m as a red shirt
freshman five years ago or whatever. But like there's no
guarantee he's going to be good enough, and so like
there's the scenario where they need Cutter to step up
and be the guy early in the season. So I
understand winning him prepare, but it does feel like coming
out this week and hyping up this quarterback battle and

(31:42):
you know, talking about how Cutter had closed the gap
and all of this stuff, like when we know that
Zach's going to be the guy in game one, is
just adding more pressure to them. Like if he comes
out against Toledo and has a bad first quarter, everybody's
going to be like grumbling for a Cutter bullying right there.
Like I don't understand why they decided that was the
week to do that, but you know, maybe on Monday,

(32:03):
Mark has a good explanation for it. I mean, I'm
sure part of it is keeping Cutter engaged. I'm sure
part of it is reminding Calzada that, like anybody can
be replaced, so you've got to prepare better to Part
of it is probably trying to keep Toledo guessing about
who's going to start and prepare and all that stuff,
but it seems like overthinking it to me. Yeah, Like
at this point, everybody knows who's taking the reps, all
the teammates, all the players know, Cutter knows, z Act knows.

(32:27):
Like it seems like you're just trying too hard. But
you know it'll be a fascinating story and maybe Kalzata
just comes out and he's so good that everybody forgets immediately.
But it does feel like adding pressure that doesn't necessarily
need to be there.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
And I may be thinking in terms of the NFL,
but how often have you ever seen this football team
make a change at quarterback simply because the number one
guy isn't playing well enough? And you know as well
as I they stay with the QB one oftentimes way
too long before they if they make a change. And
I'm not just talking about Kentucky, I'm talking anywhere, and

(33:00):
by the time you make a change, it's probably too late,
you know, injuries notwithstanding. But you know the Lynn Bowden
story when he stepped in in the middle of the
season because everybody else was hurt, and then he excelled
beyond everybody's wild as dreams. You know, that's a rare.
You may not see that happen again for a decade anywhere,
not just the UK. So, yeah, that's something you have

(33:22):
to remember about making a quarterback change, am I right?

Speaker 7 (33:25):
Yeah, I mean I can't remember a scenario in Stoops
tenure where they made a quarterback change because of like
performance and it went well. I mean they if you remember,
like even the years where like Terry Wilson was the
guy for the whole year, Stephen Johnson was the guy
for all the year, Like Terry Wilson almost got pinched
like four different times in those two years he was
the starter here and every time they ended up going
back to him. Like think about the Patrick Toles Drew

(33:47):
Barker here, they bench Patrick at the end of the year,
they played Drew Barker, he was terrible for two games,
and then Patrick Holes is back in there against World
War the end of the season like that. Just like
they've tried that with They tried to start Gunner Hope
at one point they opened the battle up with with
with Terry Wilson. It just never has worked like these guys,
like if it was that close and if the backup
was that good, like they would make the move earlier

(34:09):
and so like that's just a symptom of like, when
that's the only move that you have left to make,
it's a real problem.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
Yeah, Terry had had mystery knee injury that he didn't
tell anybody about, and he just wasn't the same after that,
you know, by his own admission. But yeah, well you're
taking me back on that few minutes left with John
Hale of the Hero Leader. Anything in particular from these
series of interviews we've done with players and coaches that
have jumped out at you, because I find a really

(34:37):
interesting talking to the new guys who kind of they're
not saying it out loud, but you know their feeling is, look,
we weren't here last year. You know what happened last year.
It wasn't our fault. But on the other hand, they're
not sure what to expect, are they.

Speaker 6 (34:51):
No.

Speaker 7 (34:51):
I mean, I think that is the most interesting part
to me, is because they got so many of these
old transfers who came from smaller schools, and I'll have
something to a prove like they're older guys. They're all
great to talk to, Like there are some really fascinating
stories on this team, like individual guys who fans will
love if they're good enough to like stay in treat
and so like that part of it is interesting to me,

(35:12):
Like if if they are better than expected as a team,
I think there are a bunch of players on the
team that fans are really going to like and they're
going to be excited about and they're gonna have fun
learning about them. And that's kind of a new opportunity.
You just got to hope that they're good enough to
where people care long. The other part that's fascinating to
me is they have barely played They've made it really
clear that seth mcnawan from the transfer to Mexico State

(35:33):
and not they dow bail the transfer from Nebraska. Are
the two running backs, Like those guys are going to
carry the bone and load, and they barely played them
in the two scrimmages, Like they have just been so
obsessed with keeping them healthy. Remember they lost chip Tran
scrimmage even last year for most of the year, and
it seems like that has gotten in their head where
they just want to protect those guys. But they're both
new guys who are learning a new offense and all

(35:54):
that stuff. The fact they're so confident that they can
hold those guys out makes me think their running gam
is going to be pretty good. And so if those
guys are good and the running game's good, the offensive
line can do it. I think that tells out the
best case scenario can be a Stephen Johnson kind of quarterback,
Like there's a path to that, you know, kind of
twenty sixteen year where they were. They were a lot
of fun with those guys later in the year, and

(36:15):
so we'll see if that happens. I think there's some
fascinating characters that fans will love if if they're good
enough to pay attention. But you know, all those ifs
we've been talking about are still there.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
The more ifs there are, the longer the shot, if
you will, the longer the odds. And you know, you
brought up running back. That's exactly where I was going
to go because somebody over there said, you know, we
put all our eggs in the one basket with Chip
train them last year, and that's that's all we heard.
It seemed in the preseason. Yeah, this kid from Ohio State,
he's big, he says, you know, and somebody else pointed out, yeah,
but he didn't play in Ohio State. You know, and

(36:47):
then he gets hurt, so we never did fit. We're
going to find out Saturday, maybe how good he is
since he plays for Toledo now. But the fact that
they've got the two kids running three and four at
running back who got rep at the end of last
year and they're still going to have a hard time
finding the field tells me a little bit or a
lot about the first two guys, doesn't it.

Speaker 7 (37:08):
Yeah. Absolutely, And Jason Patterson, who played early last year
as a freshman, then got hurt and kind of played
again more late. He actually ended up red shirt, you know,
playing four games like it sounds like he's had a
really good camp while those other two guys have been
sitting to the side. So he gives you a great
third option. And then we saw what jam Marion Wilcox
could do last year, maybe the most explosive player on
the roster. He clearly did not know the playbook last year,

(37:31):
which is why he didn't play more. But I think
it's a great scenario where you were worried at the
end of last year, like, Okay, is this going to
be the next Brown situation? Where you keep giving this
kid everything you need to keep him around? Because he's
so talented and they just didn't do that. And it
seems like jam Marion, to his credit, has really responded.
Everything we've heard is basically like he just put his
head down and gone to work. You know, he's got

(37:52):
work to do. He's not pouting any of that stuff.
When you add two transfers at your position, like that
guy's your fourth running back and you can throw him
out there for a handful of plays a game and
know that he can take it to the house anytime.
It's a pretty good situation to be in. So fascinated
to see how those guys work, because I know it
feels like not that long ago that we were all
complaining and debating about whether their offense was too boring.

(38:13):
I think everybody would take boring at this point that
they're confident.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
I think you're right on, and you mentioned Barrian Brown.
The wide receiver room is another great storyline. But they
were out of time, and we will talk about that
the next time John we chat, because by then we
will have seen a couple of games. Thanks so much,
and we'll see you at Kentucky dot com.

Speaker 7 (38:33):
Thanks for having me up next to nowur number two.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
More on the football Cats. Plus we'll talk about those
EKU football Colonels with a voice of the Colonels of
Greg Stottlemeyer. That's on the other side of the news
break here on six thirty WLAP. All right, three two one,
Welcome back to the Big Boomsider And as we mentioned earlier,
coming up on the same day the football Cats open up,
eku's Colonels are on the road. They don't have to

(38:56):
go too terribly far down the interstate to Louisville to
take on the Cardinals, but it's a tall order. Greg
Stottlemeyer will call the game for the UK Radio network.
He is on our celebrity hotline Stotts. I know these
games are fun to prepare for, but man, what an
uphill challenge for the Colonels to open up with a
really good Louisville team.

Speaker 7 (39:16):
Yeah, and especially when you have an offensive line the
lost four or five starters and that's probably the biggest
question mark. And you know, the U of L has
a good defense. I expect that again, So yeah, it's
going to be a tall order. The good thing last
year they played Mississippi State and Western Kentucky back to
back to open the season. This year, they have U
of L, then they have a home game against Houston Christian.

(39:38):
Then they go to Marshall, so they get a little
bit more of an equal litmus test in week two.
And I think that's a better schedule situation. But you know,
you go compete. You never know. Sometimes you get blown out.
Sometimes you play a game close, so it'll be interesting
to see. And like Walt Wells and you've heard him
say this, just play every dawn as though it's game.

(40:00):
In other words, just played down by down and try
to learn about your team and do the best you
can and let the parking pun but let the cards
ball where they may.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, a couple of years ago Eka opened up. I
want to say it was at UC and and walts
Worth would say we got boat raced. They just weren't
mentally and emotionally ready. And then last year I kind
of acquitted themselves, I think better against the D one opponents.
So yeah, you can't go into these games with any trepidation,
you know.

Speaker 7 (40:30):
I mean it happened to the COVID year at West
Virginia they got they got blown out. Same thing at Marshall,
I think the year before or after that. But they've
they've had close games too over over the years. And uh,
it's just the thing that Eastern has had playoff quality
teams last two or three years, right, the problem, the
problem if there is one, and every coach would say

(40:52):
this about you had a great quarterback and your defense
was lacking a little bit. Last year. The offense got
better as the season went along, but your defense was
your strong points. So they've never been able to have
like a really high level defensive offense. At the same time,
they've had two out of the three pieces of the puzzle.
And I think, obviously this year we'll see how many

(41:14):
pieces of that puzzle fit together. And I think it's
an unanswered question. Nobody knows. I think they feel good
about what they have at their level, but now let's
see how it translates to actual game action.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, and last year I thought Eku took a step
forward and it would have been a much wider stride,
if you will, if not for some really bizarre calls
down the stretch in that playoff game and then the
heartbreaking touchdown pass it wasn't a touchdown on the last
play of the game when a receiver barely at his
foot on the end line, and now you know, you
start over every year, but as you said, you've got

(41:50):
a new old line, you've got question marks, and the
offensive backfield you got talent, but you know it's going
to be difficult to see what you have with those
two D one games so early in year. Am I right?

Speaker 7 (42:01):
Yeah, exactly, And that's what all FCS teams space when
they go against FBS teams, you know, due to the
money situation. They have announced to their starting quarterback will
be Miles Berquet. He started his career at Wisconsin, just
played in two games Red did not play the second
area was there, and then he had a pretty good

(42:22):
year at you Albany last year, so they've got experience
and then their backup quarterbacks. There's a race for the
number two spot as well. They did lose a really
good running back and Joshua Carter who really came on,
but Braydon Latham out of Knoxville will be the starting
running back. And they're pretty talented I think at receiver

(42:45):
maybe a little bit better than they have been in
the past. But again, you just you just don't know
what you're going to get. They lose a five year
starter at placekicker and a long snapper, so that's a
question mark that you have to see how they perform
a lot of questions, but I think every play by
play announcer would say that about his team.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
In mid August talking to Greg Stadholmeyer, he is the
play by play announcer for the EKU Colonels, who are
of course now in the UAC. A long time in
the OVC, but so many changes in college football, and
I think the conference schedule from what I can see,
Stotts you open up down at West Georgia, which is

(43:26):
always a challenge, but you've got and then you've got
to go to Northern North Alabama, which has been good
in the past, but you've got Tarleton State at home,
Central Arkansas at home. What do you think of the
conference schedule?

Speaker 7 (43:41):
It's it's a good conference. When you have three schools
out of Texas where they play football as a religion,
you're going to have a good conference. And it was
rated the third best conference at FCS last year, and
I think it was it was worthy of that with
three teams in the playoffs too advanced. We should have advanced,
didn't because of the factors you brought up. But uh,

(44:05):
it's it's there's not as many plane trips this year.
The Utah schools are leaving after this year. You know,
this whole rebranding and split off from the Atlantic Sun
and Dick, I don't know how long this is going
to last. I mean it's crazy times. I was reading
today about the you know, FEC going to the nine
game schedule. Well, sooner or later the landscape will change again.

(44:29):
So but yeah, it's a good conference. You've got you
maybe your toughest games at home. Really when you look
at it with Tarleton and others, there's there's good football
in the UAC.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
Eight Colonels named first team preseason All Conference. Uh and
so the rest of the league is taking notice. And
that means you've got experience coming back in some key spots,
don't you.

Speaker 7 (44:55):
Yeah, they I think they're going to be pretty good
at at in the secondary. Ge Ward who started his
career at Austin p and he has a brother that
is played at LSU and it is with Minnesota Jay Ward.
He has really risen to wear. He's got the scouts eye.
So Jahim Ward's a safety and they've got experience there.

(45:18):
They took a couple of hits in the linebacking corps,
but they have experience because they rotate pretty deep there.
And they took a couple of hits up front too.
I mean they lost three three graduated and two transferred
out of the defense. And when you have players that
transferred to Virginia and Western Michigan, you know you've you've

(45:39):
had a pretty good defense. And you know, again the
transfer portal is another thing that that hits you a
little bit. They lost five starters on defense, but they're
they're pretty deep on defense, so I think the defense
will be pretty good.

Speaker 1 (45:52):
You mentioned the starting QB, but you've also got Bradon
Latham coming back. Marcus col Wise wide receiver and Latham
a running back. Both of those guys our first team
preseason All Conference. Do you expect balance or is it
going to be a run heavy team.

Speaker 7 (46:08):
I think it's going to be balanced. Cow Wise is
really good freshman all married three times the UAC Freshman
of the Week, and he's a good speedy receiver with
a lot of upside. And I like the way Burkett
and what I've seen in practice. I like the way
he gets a ball out of his hands pretty quick.
He's not tall, he's six foot, But I think he

(46:29):
makes good decisions. Again, you know where I'm going back to,
and that's the protection up front. You does he is
he going to have time to get the receivers open?
Is late, I'm going to have those holes that he needs.
So a lot of questions be answered there. But yeah,
I think Latham's a strong running back. Cow Wise is
really good and you've got some They moved cam Herget,

(46:52):
who is a backup quarterback, you know, the Hurgots. He's
he played at Beechwood, Kentucky, mister football. They moved him
to a wide receiver, so we'll see how he he
makes the transition as well.

Speaker 1 (47:05):
We've talked so much in college football this summer about changes.
You just alluded to them. Uh And, and I think
more and more schools they are being forced to deal
with upgrades and facilities and creature comforts because now every game,
including your games, are on TV, and so you're you're
competing with yourself essentially. Uh And they have made some

(47:25):
big changes over at EKU. If you haven't been over
to see an EKU game in a while, you might
be amazed at the upgrades over there. And you've seen,
you know, so many changes Greg in your decades as
the play by play voice. What do you think of
where EKU is now in terms of facilities and fan amenities?

Speaker 7 (47:46):
The uh the the ability to change but hold on
to the past. That Alumni Coliseum now Baptist Health arenas
are really good. They're the next space is being fixed
now where the overlay, so there'll be some new seats there.
It's a really nice I think upgrade. I love when

(48:06):
you hold the history of a facility that was built
in the early sixties sixties, but you make it modern.
Obviously roy Kid Stadium looks good, but there's a lot
of things that could be fixed on it.

Speaker 1 (48:20):
It's tough.

Speaker 7 (48:20):
It's a big concrete thing, right, and what are you
going to do with it? So I think eventually that's next.
I don't know where they're going to go with that,
but they've done a good job of trying to make
the football environment fan friendly and interesting to go to.
And you know, it's good football, it's a good atmosphere,
and so I think they've made a lot of good improvements.

(48:43):
But that big elephant in the room is what do
you do eventually with the stadium? Do you try to
renovate it, do you rebuild some way? But well that's
pay grade well above mine, and you know that's I
think way down the road. But they've done a good job.
They've upgraded baseball and softball, They've done the things, uh,
you know, and I wonder Dick, and we've talked about

(49:04):
this privately with ANIL. Now, is the arms race as
far as facility is going to slow down? Sure has
where the money's going? Is it going to change? I
you know, I think at some point these these lavish
things that are spent on facilities to try and that
arms race is going to have to obviously slow because

(49:26):
of the ANIL situation. But I'm going to be long
gone before that's all settled. And I'll be honest with
you know, you know how you're You're about my age,
So you understand I think I missed the old day. Yeah,
oh yeah, I do. I just and maybe I'm trying
to hold onto something that isn't there. I remember when
the Olympics was all amateur, right and changed. It still

(49:48):
finds some who knows.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
Well, the Olympics are amateurs for Americans, But as we
all found out, you know, other countries were really supporting
their athletes the way they should have been, and I
think we all I agree that the athletes have been
underfunded in college sports for so long, but now that
the pendulum is swinging wildly. Speaking of upgrades, there was
a point where EKU was really working hard to move

(50:14):
up to D one in football. Is there any thought
to that right now or is that on the back burner?

Speaker 7 (50:20):
I think, well they are I mean, this is kicky,
but they are D one. They're just a lower class. Yeah,
one double A. I still wish it was still one
double A. I don't know football Championships of Division versus FBS.
I haven't heard anything lately talked about. I would say
back burners are good. Again. Just what I feel that

(50:43):
I hear is that it would be on the back burner.
But I think back burner's the place now because of
all the changes are going on. You need to see
what shakes out at the top first, because potentially you
would think that the very top the power for whatever
with potentially break off, and then those that are in
the group of five or six or whatever it is

(51:05):
would have to come back down in some way. So
it almost feels like we're boomeranging back towards what used
to be one Double A at some point versus one day.

Speaker 1 (51:16):
Yeah, well, I'll let you go with this. I was
talking with somebody the other day about the college football playoff.
It's at twelve. Someone at sixteen. Some conferences won at
you know, twenty six, twenty whatever and one coach or
one d D. He said, you know, hey, look at
what they do at the FCS level. You know they've
got this playoff system blah blah blah. And as I

(51:37):
was telling the person I was talking to, said, that's
not just FCS, that's Division two, Division three. But Roy
Kid used to talk to me about this. I know
he talked to you about it, how mommy talked to
me because he was at Valdosta State D two. Yeah,
they've got that playoff system. But it's tough, man. I mean,
you you either win your conference or get a bid,

(51:57):
and you are instantly trying to get game film and
hotel rooms and working on travel. I mean, you know,
the playoffs system they have at the one double A level,
it's not easy. It's more challenging really than the CFP
because they spread that out and it's almost luxurious the
amount of times the D one teams have to prepare.

(52:19):
That ain't the case at the FCS level.

Speaker 7 (52:22):
Is it right? There's there's twenty four teams in the playoffs,
you'll get eight. They get an opening round by so
they'll have to play on Thanksgiving weekend, and then you
would play if you won in the opening round, then
there's three more rounds and then there is a space
before Christmas, before the National Championship game that has normally
been played in Frisco, but I believe there's renovations to

(52:45):
the Frisco facility, so it may be going to Nashville.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
You know.

Speaker 7 (52:50):
I used to always know that. Yeah, you know when
e kN U was always knocking on that door. But
it is. It's a grind, and teams that have been successful,
especially North Dakota, Montana, those schools, they know the routine
and it is you have to you have to number one,
you have to have a team that's hungry to win

(53:11):
football games. It wants to play the game. And I
think that's what Walt's done. He wants guys to want
to play the game of football. And so they were
fresh and ready to go this past year in November
when they lost that heartbreaker at Villanova. So yeah, but
I think if anybody nobody's asking me, but I think

(53:32):
on the FBS level, sixteen is a perfect number.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
Yeah, I'm with you. He is Greg Stodemeyer. He is
the radio voice of the EKU Colonels who will be
behind the mic when the Colonels open up at Louisville
the same day Kentucky opens up. It's a three o'clock
game if you would like to tune in. And as
Greg said following that game, the following week home game
with Houston Christian and back on the road to Huntington
for D one Marshall Scotts, thank you so much. We'll

(53:57):
be listening.

Speaker 7 (53:59):
All right. We'll listen to you guys to have a
good season.

Speaker 1 (54:03):
Waterc Com Stay with us on six thirty WLAP. Welcome
back to the Big Blue Insider. Thanks again to Greg
Stodomayer for joining us. In our first hour, we talked
about depth on the defensive side of the football and
one place that I'm going to be watching as best
I can on the sidelines. It's kind of tough at
times to see what's going on within the interior line play,

(54:26):
but I want to see what's going on at nose tackle,
both with Dave Gusta and Khalil Saunders, and for much
of the preseason Gusta was running first team at nose tackle,
but now it is Khalil Saunders, so apparently they've been
battling through the preseason. Either way, Kentucky, it would appear,
has more depth defensively. You've got Humphrey Grace at a

(54:50):
d N spot, Jaden Williams at nose tackle at a
dtackle spot, Gusta and Saunders battling out. Josiah Hayes is back,
so Kentucky should be better. We'll find out. People have
to stay healthy. Of course, they were not healthy last year,
and even with Diane Walker in the middle. You know,
Dion did battle the back injury much of the year,

(55:11):
so he wasn't the same. But after practice the other day,
I had a chance to talk to Saunders about how
things were going for him and what he's hoping will
happen this year.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
I feel like for me it's going pretty well.

Speaker 8 (55:23):
I'm playing fast, getting my techniques down, perfecting my craft
and indy and taking advantage of each rep I get.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
You lost some veterans from last year going on to
play professional football, how confident are you that the next
wave of guys can really step up.

Speaker 3 (55:40):
I'm pretty confident.

Speaker 8 (55:41):
I've like me personally, I've taken that veteran role in
teaching everyone that's new here or done freshman's in our group,
like what I've learned from guys like Josh Pascal and
other vets that we've had in our room.

Speaker 1 (55:57):
Coach was talking about the fact that you guys are
communicating a little bit better now, your tackling has been better.
Do you feel like you're you're rounding in the game
for him as a.

Speaker 8 (56:06):
Group, Yes, we're definitely coming together. We just did this
one practice right here, and I feel like we're coming together,
getting ready to prepare for Toledo.

Speaker 1 (56:16):
For anybody out there who has never played D line
in the Southeastern Conference, and that's most of us, what
is that like right there? And at the point of attack,
you know, what are you dealing with in there?

Speaker 8 (56:29):
Very very fast, the difference from coming from high school
to here.

Speaker 3 (56:34):
It's a quick speed. It's very physical.

Speaker 1 (56:36):
Everybody's twitchy, right.

Speaker 8 (56:38):
Yeah, everybody's twitchy physical. It is a lot of technique
involved with it. You just can't run up the field
and expect to make plays. You gotta actually work with
your talk.

Speaker 1 (56:49):
And I've heard for years I've learned as a civilian
about you gotta you gotta mind your gap, and you
can't try to go help your buddy.

Speaker 3 (56:58):
No, you can't. We all it's eleven pe. We all
got one job. We got to do our.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
Job because if you do, if you leave that, somebody's
got to cut.

Speaker 3 (57:06):
Back right running by gonna hit the hole right there.

Speaker 1 (57:09):
You've got some new faces or they're guys who have
played football but at the linebacker spot. But it's not
quite the veteran group that has been in the past.
What's that been like, making that adjustment from your level
to the next level the guy's playing behind you.

Speaker 8 (57:22):
I feel like it's been pretty good. Those guys. I
feel like they've come along. They've been playing very fast.
They downhill, they coverage. I think everybody's been doing good together.

Speaker 1 (57:32):
There's so much talk about the rebuilt O line and
a new quarterback coming in, a new running back. So
you feel like people are falling asleep on the defense
because it looks like you have the makings of a
pretty good SEC defense.

Speaker 3 (57:43):
Oh definitely. I feel like just all around that.

Speaker 8 (57:46):
We've gotten better as a team and excited to do
some special things this year.

Speaker 1 (57:52):
How do you use last year? Do you completely put
it out of your mind? I mean Ty Bryant said
nobody ever wants that to happen again? Do you use
that motivation?

Speaker 8 (58:00):
What I'll say, I use it as motivation because I know,
like we are better than that with the record show,
and I just want to prove this year that we
are better than that.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
That's Khalis Saunders, And again, like Gusta, you might not
hear his name called very much because those guys up
front first and foremost, they want to wreak havoc. They
want to command double teams and make it easier relatively speaking,
for the linebackers and the d backs to make tackles.
So if that's happening, yeah, you know, they may not

(58:34):
have huge numbers, but they'll have a huge effect on
what happens upfront. Sticking with college football, there's an interesting
storyline out there involving college football and the NFL, and
Urban Meyer has spoken up about it. I'm not a
huge fan, but I have to say he's making a
good point right here when he's talking about Michigan, and

(58:57):
you know, Michigan was penalized. They hit him right in
a wallet for the signs stealing controversy. To me, that
was a big deal. I mean, you talk about an
unfair advantage and they got caught and Michigan got drilled
and was not penalized in terms of you know, no
ballgame or no the O, the old penalties, no TV,

(59:17):
anything that you know might hurt this year's team because
of something that happened years ago. Hitting him in the
wallet is the way to go. But I had forgotten
about this about ten or twelve years ago when there
was that big scandal at Ohio State about tattoos for
money and things like that, which is tame now by

(59:38):
comparison to what's been going on in the Nile. The
NFL suspended both to Rep Prior of Ohio State player
and coach Jim Tressel for their part associated with what
they called tattoo Gate, the scandal that sell players trade
not just task but merchandise, or not just tickets but

(01:00:00):
merchandise for free tats. Tressel was an analyst for the
Indianapolis Colts at the time. He had retired from coaching,
but they suspended him and Roger Goodell said he supported
the move and would have done it himself. But why
hasn't the NFL taken any moves made any moves against

(01:00:21):
Jim Harbaugh, head coach of the LA Chargers. Now Urban
Meyer of course has ties to Ohio state coach into
a national title, but he has questioned publicly, why haven't
they suspended the Michigan man when they suspended Ohio State
people for transgressions that, by comparison, were much tamer. I

(01:00:45):
have to admit that's an interesting point. Second, with football,
the new ESPN streaming service is here. It's a new era,
they say for sports and the cable bundle, and yeah,
there are new ways to spend your money, new to
watch sports. There are people who are predicting that ESPN
will lose its shirt at the beginning. Some are saying

(01:01:07):
it'll make a ton of money eventually, some almost saying
it will never work. But whenever I hear about stuff
like this, and I've said as many times, because ESPN's
cable subscribers peaked at twenty eleven but one hundred million now,
believe it or not, that's down to sixty million now.

(01:01:29):
Netflix's global membership count is at three hundred two million.
That was the number by the end of twenty twenty four.
So that's where the future is. And I do remember
John Skipper, the former head of ESPN, saying that someday
the Super Bowl will be pay per view. Think back

(01:01:52):
if that happens, If and when it happens, this is
the first step, in my opinion. And yeah, the broadcasting
arms of television that right now have a majority of
the National Football League product, they're fine, They're gonna be fine,
They're gonna be fine for a long time. But how

(01:02:13):
long can they sit back If this works for ESPN,
if ESPN is successful at coming up with yet another
way to take your money in mind, how long can
the traditional networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox sit back
and watch that kind of money, that kind of opportunity

(01:02:34):
fly out the window. It'll happen, may not happen tomorrow,
may not happen next year, but it's going to happen
up next. We'll take a look back at the week
that was a little bit later on Heroes Fools in
Flake six thirty WLAP.

Speaker 9 (01:02:53):
That was the week, let it Go. That was the week, Ah,
It's not it way up rocks.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
That was the week that it has been an interesting week,
and maybe the most interesting item of the week just
happened late yesterday and they're talking about it, of course,
all day today. And that's the sec going to the
nine game schedule. And what I didn't mention earlier is
the fact that this will lock teams in to three
permanent opponents. So the question is who will be your

(01:03:29):
favorite team's traditional rotating opponents. And I've seen several suggestions
from media people fans. I haven't seen anybody mentioning Tennessee
or not very many people have Tennessee or Vandy on
Kentucky's list of traditional opponents. I got to think one
or the other being of course, border states will figure in.

(01:03:52):
I doubt if both do, but maybe South Carolina has
become a good traditional opponent. It if they fold in
a powerhouse team, probably Georgia. Those two teams have played
each other for years and years. That's going to be interesting.
Do you care if it's Tennessee anymore? A lot of
old school fans still look at Tennessee as the art

(01:04:16):
rival in football and not Louisville. Is it an arch
rival given the fact that Tennessee has dominated the rivalry,
so that'll be one of the next big headlines when
it comes to SEC football scheduling and Kentucky. While we're
talking UK, they've got a graphic out there via their

(01:04:36):
UK Athletics Twitter account calling UK the Alumni Pro League
MVP school, and they make a great point. Leah Edmund
was the MVP in the professional volleyball league in which
she plays, and before long I'll be calling volleyball matches
with Leah. She'll be alongside for most of the matches

(01:04:58):
this year on SEC Plus. Aaron Koffel was named the
MVP of the Pro Softball league in which she played,
and of course Shay Gildess Alexander was the MVP of
the NBA and the NBA Playoffs and he led his
team Oklahoma City to an NBA championship. So UK alums

(01:05:20):
doing fairly well. When it comes to Most Valuable Player
hardware one O the UK and other reminder of UK
Sports Network All Access you get all kinds of cool
stuff micd up elements of the ones I really like
the most. And recently Ladanian Washington, who was the wide
receivers coach, was talking about Jamari Macklin and the fact

(01:05:42):
that the veteran wide receiver through his social media account
is showing young people how to run routes. He's sharing
tips as a college football player, trying to help youngsters
who want to be better at the wide receiver spot.
Some of the things he has learned of you're and
wide out in the Southeastern Conference in Washington, for one,

(01:06:04):
admires him for it.

Speaker 10 (01:06:05):
These kids they see that, like I've had so many recruits,
but like, man, I want to you know, worst number nine.
You know, we've seen his tiktoks and him putting in
the work and stuff like that is a good reflection
of Kentucky football. Things like that is a good reflection
of him as a kid as well. And so he's
done a really good job putting hmself into a good spot.
You know, it's my job to help him see that
through and to finish it very strongly here and you know,
I'm looking forward to what the future is. A man

(01:06:27):
doesn't become a man until he takes full accountability of
his actions. And that's what he's done. He you know,
he wants to get better. He's asking, hey, what are
my blind spots? Places that I'm missing. He's bringing other
guys like JJ hester Long, who was another guy that
was a freshman at Missouri during my time there, Bush
having time there, so he's bringing guys along. You love
to see it, but at the end of the day,
you want guys like him to succeed because you see

(01:06:47):
the work that he's putting in in a day to
day basis so super habby for him.

Speaker 1 (01:06:51):
And that is again from the UK Sports Network All
Access channel basically, and you can find out more and
subscribe to Ukathletics dot com. And while we're talking about
a busy week, it's been a busy week for UK soccer.
The men pull off a win, a comeback win at
Western Michigan. That's how they open their season with a
two to one victory last night. And as for the women,

(01:07:15):
they get another brace from Alexis Tellinda. That's two goals
in one match, including a winner in the eighty ninth
minute last night to beat East Tennessee State two to one.
And so the women right now are three to oher
to start the twenty twenty five season. To lend it
now with five goals through the first eight days of

(01:07:35):
the season, as surpasses her mark of three goals scored
during her SEC All freshman team campaign last year. Wildcat's
now unbeaten at home in seventeen straight matches. They play
again this Sunday against Detroit Mercy at the Bell at
one pm. If you can't make it, it's on SEC plus.

(01:07:58):
John Caliperi making noise again and you're asking why do
we care? Well, because he makes good sense when he's
talking about the way college athletics, specifically basketball, are structured
right now. And he appeared on the Nothing Personal podcast
with a guy named David Sampson, sponsored by the Draft

(01:08:20):
Kings Network. Cali Perry talked about, among other things, March madness,
tampering the NIL, but he also talked about recruiting.

Speaker 11 (01:08:30):
No one's recruiting freshmen.

Speaker 1 (01:08:32):
You know why?

Speaker 11 (01:08:33):
Two reasons because kids will transfer and they can cherry pick.
There were coaches this summer not out one time evaluating freshmen.

Speaker 12 (01:08:45):
Why would that be Because.

Speaker 11 (01:08:47):
They're only going to take transfers and they're gonna cherry pick,
and they're gonna pay more than the school that they're leaving.
They're just gonna say.

Speaker 7 (01:08:54):
We're cherry picking.

Speaker 11 (01:08:55):
That's what you want in college athletics. How about this?
We played it against kids that were twenty seven, twenty
eight years old. My guys, we had the youngest team
in the SEC. So my eighteen year old played against
a twenty six year old. So tell me why a
twenty six year old is still in college. They're getting

(01:09:16):
paid and they're looking like, I can't make this money
the rest of my life. If I could stay till
thirty two, I'll stay till i'm thirty two. Look, five years,
you could do five to play five. In other words, added,
we'll give you one more year. You have five, but
there are no waivers. If you're hurt, you gotta leave
in five years. If you're hurt twice, you gotta leave.

Speaker 12 (01:09:39):
So no red shirt will take that away and just
give people five years. This is interesting. I hadn't contemplated it.
If you give all players five years eligibility and that's it,
no matter what, and you're talking about losing one of
those years on the third transfer, it's like a third transfer,
you'd have four years of eligibility.

Speaker 11 (01:09:58):
Here you go to the fifth, there you go. Now
here's the other way. You could do it the old way.
Five years to play four you have five years. That
means you can transfer. You can transfer again and sit out.
You play your list, you get your five years. You
could red shirt and play for, you could play get hurt,

(01:10:19):
play three. You could do it that way, but it's
still five years.

Speaker 1 (01:10:24):
It's not the first time Caliperi has mentioned this, but
he's going to keep talking about it until they try
to do something about it. The problem is now everybody
is so lawsuit happy, and the NCAA or institutions or
whatever now have spent so much money tied up in court.

(01:10:45):
I got a wonder too if whatever attorneys they have
must be going about this the wrong way. I'm no expert,
but they keep losing. But why can't they put rules
together that would protect themselves. Talking about the universities, the
institutions from lawyers suing on behalf of kids who want

(01:11:06):
to stay in college seventy nine ten years standard school
is one thing, but playing sports, as Calipari said, is
that fair? Is it equitable to have an eighteen year
old planning against a twenty six year old. I don't
know of anybody other than the actual athlete himself, maybe
his family and their respective attorney in favor of a

(01:11:27):
kid playing for a six, seventh, eighth, ninth, year if
it's helping your specific team. I know people are all
in favor of it, but it just seems ridiculous right
now looking back on this week. It began with the
official announcement of the retirement of John Wall, the former
Wildcat UCA Athletics Hall of Famer, National Player of the Year,

(01:11:48):
consensus first Team All American SEC Player of the Year,
and the SEC Tournament MVP, and the first number one
overall NBA draft pick in program history. It's been a
big week. Hero's Fools and Flakes next in six thirty
WLAP that.

Speaker 6 (01:12:05):
Was to let it go.

Speaker 1 (01:12:10):
Welcome back to the Big Moon Sider time now for Heroes,
fools and Flakes, and our hero tonight is William Frawley, who, well,
stick with me on this one. It's a little bit
of a reach, but I like this one. William Frawley
played Fred Mertz on the old I Love Lucy Show
back in the fifties, and I know I'm dating myself
with this, but there is a great sports connection. He

(01:12:33):
was a big, big baseball fan, a Yankees fan, and
in fact, he owned a World Series watch that he
got after the Yanks won the World Series in nineteen
fifty two and when he was in Los Angeles. Of course,
in television he became something of a Dodgers fan, but

(01:12:55):
he remained such a Yankees fan that when he signed
his first co track to play Fred, he insisted on
a unique clause in as I Love Lucy contract, if
the Yankees made it to the World Series, he must
be given time off in October when they were shooting
the show to attend the World Series. And while he

(01:13:17):
was on I Love Lucy, he got to invoke that
clause seven times. And in fact, the last movie he
ever made was the Yankees themed Safe at Home, which
also featured Ralph Houp, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Marris. What's
also interesting about Fred Mertz, of course, he played opposite

(01:13:39):
Vivian Vance, who played his wife Ethel. They couldn't stand
each other and on the show they were always bickering.
Here's an example in the show, they were fighting and
Lucy and Ricky put together a dinner party to try
to bring them together and told each person, We've got
a special date for you. Turned out to be their
spouse to their respective spouses. But here's a bit of
the may what are.

Speaker 7 (01:14:00):
You doing here?

Speaker 9 (01:14:03):
What are you doing here?

Speaker 11 (01:14:05):
Lucy, is that my date?

Speaker 1 (01:14:08):
He's no dream, he's a nightmare.

Speaker 2 (01:14:13):
Is that your idea of a cute young chick?

Speaker 1 (01:14:16):
You'll never shop for my poultry? Fred Ethel from I
Love Lucy. Always bickering on the show and in real
life couldn't stand each other. She believed that he looked
so much older than she did, which he kind of did,
and she felt like that reflected poorly on her and
he found out about that and it ticked him off.
So no, they never got along in real life. I

(01:14:38):
think till later in life. Our fool. Tonight, I gotta
go at Cracker Barrel. Now what does this have to
do with sports? Well, I'll tell you. Cracker Barrel through
the years has been a favorite stop of the UK
Radio network. When we're on a drive trip, either to
Nashville or Knoxville or other places, and we need someplace
to stop on the way back, we'll stop at Cracker Barrel.

(01:15:00):
Often is not because you could rely on it, you
knew what you were getting. It was a comfortable place
to be. And now the powers would be a Cracker Barrel.
They've changed the logo, the rebrand, they've changed the stores,
and is it that big of a deal. Not really.
I'll probably still go there. I don't know if they've
changed the menu that much, but I can tell you this.

(01:15:23):
The stock prices plummeted fourteen percent after the announcement, to
the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars. They
may make that up, and right now it looks like
a foolish move. Our flake tonight going to New York Yankees.
You could call them fools as well. They missed a
great opportunity. But last night was George Gestanzo bobblehead night

(01:15:46):
at a Yankee stadium. Not just any bobblehead. It was
George sleeping under his desk from an episode from Seinfeld
called The Nap. That was George talking about how much
he liked napping at work when he was the assistant
to the Traveling Secretary, And he had somebody build a
little shelf under his desk and fitting perfectly, he had

(01:16:09):
a pillow in an alarm clock and he could climb
under his desk and take a nap. And so that
was the bobblehead they gave away last night, and then
blew the opportunity in front of their fans by making
four errors in his six' three loss to The Boston Red.
Sox and by the, way this isn't the only Bobblehead

(01:16:29):
knight Involving George costanza Or seinfeld that we've. Seen Minor
league affiliates of The, mets And george also went to
work for The mets at one. Point they've had bobblehead.
Nights The Brooklyn, cyclones A HIGH a, affiliate have done bobbleheads
Of george and His Gore tex coat when he looked
like The Mitchellin, man and also a bobblehead Of george

(01:16:51):
pulling a golf ball out of The wales blowhole when
he was pretending to be a marine. Biologist one of
the greatest scenes in the history of, Television The Jacksonville Jumbo,
shrimp A TRIPLE a affiliate of The, marlins gave Away
George constanzo bobblehead of him eating so many shrimp that
had prompted a call from the, Ocean but The yankees

(01:17:13):
blew it last. Night that's going to do it thanks
To Greg, stottlemeyer thanks To John. Hale that's a good
night from the garage in Lexingon good nineteen.

Speaker 13 (01:17:20):
Hundred did they use electric lights before than. Bread don't
look at, me ask, castle.

Speaker 11 (01:17:27):
Nor lesson nor.

Speaker 13 (01:17:29):
Minea the singing anything back.

Speaker 6 (01:18:49):
To take.

Speaker 13 (01:18:53):
ANYTHING i think.

Speaker 6 (01:18:58):
Back from the

Speaker 13 (01:19:14):
Dott don't the

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