2025-09-11 BBI

Brad White on how the UK defense needs to develop; (19:00) Jeff Piecoro of the UK Sports Network; (39:00) Looking back on the Georgia-Tennessee rivalry; (50:00) Doug Flynn on sports in Lexington as the city celebrates its 250th anniversary; (1:02:00) how legendary announcer Larry Munson became a UGA Bulldog, wearing a hobnail boot...

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Big Blue Insider.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Dick Gabriel with you on a Thursday, one day closer
to Kentucky football the Wildcast taking on Eastern Michigan the Eagles,
and we will talk a lot of football. Of course,
Tonight on the BBI, we're gonna hear from Jeff Picorol
from the UK Network. Also, we're gonna talk with Doug Flynn,
who is going into the UK Sports Hall of Fame
tomorrow night.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
But tonight we're gonna talk with.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Him in his role as a sports ambassador, if you will,
as part of the two fifty lex celebration. Lexingon celebrating
it's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary. So Doug has been
tasked with reminding everybody as best he can throughout the media. Uh,
maybe just standing on street corners talking sports with people.

(00:43):
Lexington is more than just UK of course, very important,
but we've got a lot more going on when it
comes to sports, and we have had over the last
two hundred and fifty years. We don't go back that far,
but we'll talk with Doug about that. Naturally, we'll look
ahead to the game. We'll hear from Brad White defensive coordinator,
and it was defense day yesterday, so we'll hear from
him and one or two of the Wildcats coming up

(01:05):
against the team that, quite frankly, is not very good,
but it's a team that will give us another opportunity
to see what Kentucky has been doing in practice. What
have they been fixing, cleaning up, working on that sort
of thing. We start, though, with a little bit of
bad news. I'd hate to tell you, but the volleyball team.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Last night swept by Pittsburgh in Fort Worth, Texas at
the Shriners event.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Pitt came in and won twenty five nineteen, twenty five,
twenty two, and twenty five twenty three. Now, Brooklyn Delay
did become the nineteenth player all time in UK to
bring up career kill number one thousand. She would give
them all back, I can tell you. For a win
over Pittsburgh, soap, Greig Skinner's team.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Goes back to work. It look pitt is really good.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Was the final four team last year ranked number seven
right now, it's just a little surprising after Kentucky played
so well against Nebraska down in Nashville, but it was
essentially a home match for the Huskers with the crowd
they brought and then of course destroyed Penn State, the
defending national champion at Penn State. But Pittsburgh really good,

(02:22):
really on top of its game, and a turning point
came in the second set. Kentucky had already lost the
first one, and the Wildcats trailed much of the second,
but caught up at around the nineteen point mark and
then three straight service errors and.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
I really killed him.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
And you know, that's obviously a point for the other team,
but could have taken one away from you. So that's
a two point swing potentially, and at that stage in
any match, you just can't give them up like that.
So Kentucky down thirteen to nine and then managed to

(03:04):
come all the way back to make it twenty one twenty,
but then pitt took four to the next six, with
three of them coming on service errors. So even though
Kentucky hit two eighty two for that said, Pittsburgh hit
three point thirty three. Kentucky's defense struggled. Pitt hit five
sixty in the first set. Again it's like batting average

(03:25):
had only two errors on twenty five swings, and then
Pittsburgh closed out the Wildcats even though Kentucky took an
early lead, so again back to practice for Craig Skinners team.
They've got a big weekend coming up. It's a round
robin event at Historic Memorial Coliseum, the Wildcats taking on SMU,
one of the better teams in the country. That's on Saturday,

(03:47):
and then Houston on Sunday. So the Saturday match, by
the way, starts at three o'clock, so you can catch
that some or all.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
Of it and then go over to football after that.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
On Sunday against Houston, it's a two o'clock start at
the Coliseum and we'll have it for you on SEC
plus Lea Edmund and Yours truly. While we're talking UK sports,
the UK men remain undefeated in soccer. They are three
to zero to one. They beat Detroit Mercy last night
four nothing at the Bell, Kentucky's current home unbeaten streak

(04:22):
now eight games dating back to last year four oh
and four. Alex Ruiz with a hat trick for the Wildcats.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
Another home match coming up Sunday at the Bell.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
They take on Bowling Green at one o'clock and once
again admission is free one o'clock Sunday for UK men's soccer.
One of the bigger headlines in college athletics these days
is an investigation that resulted in three players being banned
for life. Fresno State men's basketball player actually manipulated his

(04:55):
performance because of gambling conspired with two other players to
bet on his stats. These are prop bets. The inn
say releasing its findings on the investigation last night. So
now Michael Robinson Santasee State guard Steven Vasquez, and Robinson's
from Fresno and Jalen Weaver from Fresno State permanently ineligible

(05:18):
because of gambling violations, and they have quit their respective
schools as well. Robinson and Vasquez were roommates at Fresno
State last year. They conspired to wager on Robinson underperforming
on a January seventh, twenty twenty five game between Fresno
and Colorado State. Three prop bets totally twenty two hundred

(05:40):
dollars placed on the under on Robinson's stats. The bets
were flagged by Nevada sportsbook operator it won. The bets
actually won nearly sixteen thousand dollars, one of the best
placed by Vasquez and a sports book trader. According to
the NCAA. Robinson also placed thirteen prop bets on daily

(06:04):
fantasy sites from early December through January.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Of that year.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
And you could shrug this off by saying, well, you know,
the colleges are in bed now with fan duels and
DraftKings and all that.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah they are, Yeah they are.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
But it's still a problem, obviously, and it doesn't mean
you can condone this. You know, you can't just look
the other way and say, well, you know, they ought
to be allowed to bet, because this is fixing the games.
And if you pay any attention to this at all,
they have been betting on sports events in Europe legally
for years, and they have had problems with athletes attempting

(06:42):
to fix soccer matches and other things. And this is
another one of those categories where you could say, didn't
we see this coming, Because we did. And that's why
there are many people who are hoping to lobby to
do away with prop bets for college game. But you
got to do away with if you're gonna do with them,
do away with all of them. Why just stop at

(07:03):
the college game. Who's to say pro athletes won't doctor
their stats trying to make some money on the side. Well,
because college kids need the money more than the pros.
But yeah, but you never know when a pro athlete
betting through other people will fall way behind and need
the money. That's generally what has happened when they've nailed

(07:24):
pro athletes who make a ton of money, but they're
gambling because they're in debt. And that's what happens. And
by the way, as I said many times, the industry
itself patrols itself incredibly well. Won't catch everybody, but it
caught these kids, and now they're done and they're off
scholarship and out of school. Coming up a little bit

(07:46):
later on, we'll take a look at one of the
big games. Maybe they was clearly the biggest game in
the SEC, one of the biggest in the country this weekend.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
It is Georgia Tennessee.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Tennessee has had success under Josh Heipel in the SEC,
except when it comes to playing against Georgia. We talked
about that the other day. And we'll relive a Larry
Munson highlight, one of the all time greats.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Oh man, this is.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
I love playing Larry Munson calls, and we'll hear it
coming up a little bit later on in the program.
All right, coming up, next we'll hear from Brad White.
He'll be talking about the Kentucky defense as it prepares
for Eastern Michigan a little bit later on Jeff Bacoro
here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big
Blue Insider. Coming up Saturday, Kentucky Eastern Michigan. No word

(08:33):
yet officially as to whether or not Cut or Bully
we'll start at quarterback or Zach Calzada.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
We understand both will play, so we'll find out soon enough.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
I guess I've got to think we'll find out before
the game begins. I mean, before you know they announced
the starting lineups on game day whether Bowley will be
the starting QB. But just stay tuned for that. We
do know this, then, when the Wildcats take the field,
their defense will play well because it's played well already
each of the first two games. Not well enough against

(09:04):
Ole miss of course, because that one got away. Wasn't
just the offense. The defense had some opportunities it missed.
And Brad White, and talking with us yesterday, talked about
one of the turning points in the game. And I
know you remember this one when Kentucky was ahead ten
to nothing. This was early second quarter. In fact, two
plays into the second quarter is when the Wildcats kicked

(09:26):
the field goal.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Missed out on a chance to move the chains.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
And maybe get a second touchdown after ty Bryant's second interception,
but instead settled for a field goal.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
And again, you can't settle for field.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
Goals against a team like Old Miss. She needs sevens,
not threes. And that's Mark Stoop's talking on me. Pretty obvious.
So anyhow, Ole Miss takes the kickoff and drives down,
gets a couple of nice plays and then facing fourth
and one on their own forty four and you know
the Rebels are gonna go for. You know, Kiffin's gonna
go for. Most coaches would at that stage.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Kind of the no man's land.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
So from the forty four yard line, Austin Simmons straightens up,
quickly fires a pass to the left side to Wallace.
He makes the grab for a six yard game, but
then breaks a tackle and goes fifty five yards to
the one yard line. Next play, Lacey goes for a
touchdown make it ten to seven, and Brad White talked

(10:24):
about that as one of the turning points in the game.

Speaker 3 (10:28):
It was a good start. You know, we started fast obviously,
you know, two interceptions, you know, and having an opportunity
there on that fourth and one to really sort of
change the momentum, yeah, or the momentum was in our
favor and keep it going right. But it's a really

(10:48):
good learning moment for our guys to understand that, you know,
what you don't want to do in that situation. It's
fourth and one. You know, if you make a stop,
that's great, that's a positive. You know, you give the
offense the ball with a short field, you know, again,
but what you can't give up as an explosive. And
to me, that was the turning point moment sort of

(11:10):
that fourth and one and they get the big throw
and then we miss tackle and it gets down to
the one and then they sco on the next play.
I think that was just one of those moments in
a game that can really just sort of pivoted at
that moment.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, that's a better way to put it.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
Not a turning point than it kind of is, but
it just kind of pivoted. A turning point makes it
seem like from that point forward everything was decided.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
That was not the case because it was a tie.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Game with three twenty two to play in the third period,
but you could feel Kentucky's control slipping away. And it's
gonna be that kind of game. I mean, think back
to last year's Ole Miss game. When a team like
Old Mish, when you face a team like that, it
runs so many plays at a break neck pace. You're
going to have the ups and downs in a game
like that, as opposed to the grinded out type of

(11:57):
game we saw when Kentucky played. Was so much going
on in games like that. Your football IQ, my term,
is so vital. And Brad White talked about that, talked
about improving the awareness that is defensive Bunch needs to
excel at defense in the sec.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
The thing that we need to be better is we
need to be more situationally aware. We need to understand again,
whether it's fourth and one, it's back to if they
get a yard or two there, that's not the game
changing momentum play giving up an explosive there is, like
understanding when it's time to sell out, when it's time
to you know, you know, give us your best shot,

(12:42):
but not not give up something that's huge to understand
when it's four minute and what teams are trying to
do in the four minute defense, Like, all those things
are important and we're still growing, you know, we still
have a lot of guys that are still just they're
trying to do their job and execute our defense. But
it's at the point where okay, that needs to become

(13:04):
like breathing. Now they can focus on, you know, the
opponent and then hey, what's trying, Like what is the situation? Hey,
it's third and this it's this alignment by a receiver,
it's a wildcat, like. Those are the things that we
have to get better at if if we want to

(13:25):
be the defense that we want to be.

Speaker 2 (13:29):
And what he's talking about there is just a matter
of game reps experience. Obviously, as he said, it's got
to be like breathing. It's got to be second nature,
something you don't think about. That's true of all athletes
in any athletic endeavor. You gotta have strategy, obviously, but
when it comes to recognizing situations, it has to be

(13:49):
almost a knee jerk reaction. And he talked about two
specific players who were here not that long ago. In fact,
Zion Childress, who finished up his Kentucky career last year
and made the Dallas Cowboys. I don't know if he's
on the active squad or he's on the practice squad,
but he made it as an undrafted free agent. And
then Mike Edwards, who has multiple Super Bowl rings, another

(14:13):
former Wildcat defensive back, want to ring with the Chiefs,
want to ring with the Buccaneers. I believe he's back
with the Chiefs now. But these are the guys, of course,
who are now NFL caliber players. But that's how well
they played the game. And a guy who's doing that
right now is Alex Safari. And White didn't mention him,
but just because his name didn't come up, but he

(14:35):
spoke in generalities when he was talking about the defense,
and he did bring up White or other.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
He did bring up Edwards and Childress as guys who
by the.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
Time they moved on from here, they didn't have to think,
they just reacted.

Speaker 1 (14:49):
They just knew.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
And ty Bryant was like that in the game on Saturday.
He told me after the game on the postgame radio show,
his first interception. They practiced that defense against that particular
offensive set. He called it a play and to go
back and look at it, and ty Bryan is not

(15:12):
draped all over the receiver. When he makes that pick,
he comes from off the ball, but he was hanging
back because he recognized the formation and he recognized the
situation and he figured they're gonna throw the ball and
if they do, I'm gonna pick it off.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
And he did. Now the second pass was tipped and
he was there to pick it off. But he's a
guy who In fact, he told us that his off
season work included working at corner, working.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
At safety, but also working at some of the linebacker
spots because he said, the more I know about how
our defense works, the better we're going to be. And
he also said when he's done playing football, he wants
to coach football. So he said, any knowledge I can
get as good and that's what they need, and they're
getting it, especially up front. He talked a lot to

(16:03):
Brad White about the D line coached by anwar Stewart,
And I got to tell you, every time I talked
to a former player who played with Ann war Stewart
or has been around the program, and all lately they
rave about him.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
He was an outstanding.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
Player, had a long career, productive in the Canadian Football League,
a little undersized for the NFL, and he has been
a huge plus undersized as a player, but a huge
plus as a coach. And he's done a tremendous job.
He may be his position group may have been the
most consistent of all Kentucky position groups on either side

(16:42):
of the ball over the last several years. And White
talked about the d line, talked about anwar Stewart he
chose to do it. I mean, it's unfortunate right when
the Metavac helicopter which is the landing pad, you know,
they land on top of the hospital, but when they're
not being used, it sits right by the football practice field. Well,
they had somewhere to be, so they fired up the

(17:04):
chopper just as Brad was talking about the defensive line.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
Two reasons I think number one first and foremost coach Stewart.
I think, you know, Stud does an unbelievable job with
those guys. He's you know, he's going to demand a lot,
you know, but he loves on them hard. And I
think they're a close knit group like they they liked
working with each other. There there are some times when
you can push an individual player or a group and

(17:33):
you know they don't they don't love to be pushed.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
That hard.

Speaker 3 (17:36):
This group allows themselves to be uncomfortable and get pushed
and understand that sometimes there's going to be harsh criticism
and there's no uh. It's not coming from a bad place.
It's coming from a price of love and trying to
get transformation and trying to get the best out of
these guys.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
And we'll see if the D line takes another step
forward on Saturday. Up next, Jeff Pikoro Talks Football six
thirty WLAP Welcome.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
Back to the Big Lewinsider.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
Joining us, of course on our celebrity hotline is the
color analyst from the UK Network, mister Jeff Bicoro. Jeff,
you were there when Mark Stoops talked Monday. Primarily well,
I won't say primarily, but maybe the biggest headline was
about the quarterback situation. We you know, we don't know,
may not know for another day or two about Zach Calzada,

(18:23):
even if he plays. We will see Cutter Bowley. Could
this be the prelude to a changing of the guard
if you will?

Speaker 1 (18:30):
What do you think?

Speaker 4 (18:32):
Well, I thought you asked a pretty pertinent question where
you said, you know, when does the quarterback have to
be ready? You know, because they have to be their Tuesdays,
they have to be their Wednesday could have been a
game time decision, and I kind of agree with what
coach said. You can't flip flop and wait because you
have to go with one guy and if and if

(18:53):
Zach's not healthy, turn it over to cut Her this week.
Now it might be different if you're playing Georgia, but
you're playing Eastern Michigan.

Speaker 5 (19:00):
I think this is a.

Speaker 4 (19:01):
Great situation for Cutter to get his feet wet. You know,
last year they threw him in the Texas game and
he did fine, but then when he had a week
as the number one guy, he didn't do that good
against Louisville. Now Louisville had tape on him and things
like that. But the difference now is he's a year older,
he's bigger, stronger, and he knows the offense like the

(19:22):
back of his hand. That is the key, and so
I think Cutter gets the range. And I think Cutter
starts on Saturday. And again with Zach, you have to
heal up. You've got You're never going to go through
a season with one quarterback. It's very very rare in
college football. But you know you've got bow behind him too,
who's a very good game manager.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, and I remember last year they played Cutter against
Murray State. But no disrespect, Murray was not just a
one double a team, maybe the worst one double A
team in the country. You know, it was going through
a coaching change and personnel changes.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
And if they had not not.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
Just Beaten State, but if they had not performed well,
they would add real problems. But that was not enough
to prepare Cutter Boldie for what happened to him down
at Austin. Although to your point, he took that one
shot right in the face and then got up and
completed that deep ball.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
So he really grew that day, didn't he?

Speaker 5 (20:20):
He did.

Speaker 4 (20:21):
And the thing I liked, Betty, he's got guts. And
I think the other thing that coach said, and I
said this during the game too, is Zach's escape mechanism
when he's in the pocket is to sprint out. Yes,
is to get out of the pocket. And what did
Mark say? Exactly what I said on the air. And
I'm not trying to toot my own horns any sense

(20:41):
of the imagination, but to climb the pocket and the
great ones, the Brady's, the Mannings climbing the pocket. He's
stepping up instead of trying to get to the outside.
If you step up with tackles are taught. If a
guy's on an outside rush, you push him out. So
if you escape the pocket to the outside, you're running.
I think of those guys step up in the pocket

(21:02):
and usually you'll find it running lane or you'll find
time to deliver the ball down the field. And that
is something that Cutter does really well. He buys time
just like Peyton it because he's not the swiftest of runners,
but he can buy time within the pocket by climbing
up in the pocket.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, and in most cases, And I read this in
Jerry Kramer's autobiography in the sixties, and I've read it
ever since, and I've heard it ever since that to
your point, when you're pass blocking and they're trying to
rush up the field, you let him go. You know,
it's not like you let him have free reign. But
if this guy wants to go this way, you go
right with him. You stay between him.

Speaker 4 (21:39):
And a twenty bout that way.

Speaker 6 (21:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah, you know, if you're run blocking, you've got to
make him move someplace he doesn't want to move. Too,
but pass blocking, yeah, which usually enables a quarterback to
step up. The other thing, though, you and I talked twice, Jeff,
you know, walk into our cars after the first two games,
and I wont under to you, as a former wide receiver,

(22:02):
what are we not seeing in the passing game? And
I thought it was more about the routes and the
plays they were calling. But Stoops Monday talks specifically about
plays where short routes were I mean four yards six
yard to your point, would move the chains on first down.
You always talk about that, but he said they were

(22:23):
there and for whatever reason.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
And I'm not trying to pile onto the kid because
we know he's throwing for eight thousand yards.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
But Zach's not pulling the trigger and and and then
next thing, you know, you're second and long and it
just can't happen that way. I felt better after I
heard Stoops say what he said, because I said to myself, Okay,
now I understand you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (22:49):
Yeah, I think that the one thing Zach is doing
is he's pushing a little bit because he's trying to
hit the big play. Okay, because he hears he hears us,
he hears everybody wants to chunk plays, you know, they
want to the art passage. But again it's the six
and seven yard paths that makes those fifty yard pases possible,
right because look at what Ole Miss does. They dink

(23:11):
and dimond, dink and diamond, go to the outside and
they do the RPO and then when the safeties come up,
they throw over the top. That's what you have to do.
You can't just throw over the throbic in the first game,
five deep passes and a couple of those, there's no chance.
But the other thing Zack has to do too. And
I think it was like on fourth down, it's fourth down,

(23:31):
you're throwing it deep into the give your receiver a chance,
put it in the field of play where they can
at least try to go up and make a play.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
Yeah, you're referring to the quality threw out of bounds.
He just overthrew his receiver.

Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yeah, because you might get an interference call, which has
happened correct already this year.

Speaker 2 (23:50):
And I keep reminding myself. He said, Now, three really
nice deep balls overturned one by a penalty, two by review.
Now we'd still be talking about this, but maybe not
quite with a tone that's so alarming because Kendrick Law
made a tremendous catch in the end zone against Toledo

(24:10):
but was out of bounds. You know, Hester barely out
of bounds. So I think they're they're close to where.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
They want to be. But that ain't good enough against
this schedule.

Speaker 4 (24:20):
Is it. No, it's not. And again they're gonna be
fifty to fifty balls. And we talk about this every
year with whoever the core, even when you go back
to Will Levis, do you go back to Couch and Lorenzi,
fifty to fifty balls, Trust your receiver. You're gonna you're
gonna get That's why it's called fifty. If you get

(24:40):
half of those, yeah, you know you're gonna get big plays.
Just put it out there so they can get a
hold of it. Hardley Gilmour make a really nice catch
on Oh it was a bat actually thrown by Bowlie
right yep in the game. So you know, I think
that the receivers are capable. I really like the way
the line is played. They've given them time. So in

(25:03):
two games they've had three sacks. So that's winning football
in my opinion.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
They gave up the.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Three sacks to all miss but they were late in
the game where it was Claire Kentucky needed to pass.
It is just as we like to say in the South,
pin their ears and came after him and that's always tough.
For talking to Jef Picorol the UK network, he and
Tom will be calling the action along with yours truly
when the Wildcats take on Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon.

(25:29):
We'll come back with more for Jeff in just a
minute here on the Big bullon Sider six thirty wlap.
Welcome back to the Big bullon Sider Jeft Pecorol on
the line. He'll be calling the action along with Tom
Leach when the Wildcats take on Eastern Michigan. And by
the way, a reminder shameless plug for the Wildcat Whip
we posted every Thursday evening late afternoon. It's kind of
an extended version of our pregame comments which lasts for

(25:53):
anywhere from five to seven minutes. But we kind of
go deep on the Wildcat Whip from South of Wrigley
and we can't we cannot recommend that enough, can't we.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Jeff has a great.

Speaker 4 (26:02):
Spot to fantastic food. I mean, if you're a sandwich fan,
or if you're from Chicago or that area and you
know what Italian beef and Polish and Italian sausages, well
you want to get it at South Arica because it
is fantastic corn beef. They have a half pound corn
beef sandwich. I mean, anything you get there is just
ridiculously good.

Speaker 1 (26:23):
You had the corn beef two weeks ago and survived it.
Did you finish it?

Speaker 5 (26:30):
I did finish it.

Speaker 2 (26:31):
And you know what was great was last week And
you've talked about this before. We like to call them
the celebrity walk ons. You know people that we know.
Cameron Mills was in there one day, our old producer
Mike Dotson was in there. And last week Jerry Hale,
former UK player from the seventies, was on the team
that went to the final four, that's right, and was

(26:54):
having lunch with Danny Neil, who of course played at
Kentucky from Louisville. Lives in Lexington now and Danny played
for a couple of different teams, including Dumb Bears and
they are they're poster, yeah, and they are a poster.
He played on that super Bowl team, didn't he?

Speaker 4 (27:11):
And he played he his last His last year was
either eighty three or eighty.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
Four before right before, but many many of the same.

Speaker 4 (27:20):
Yeah, oh yeah, he coached though with with Ditka. When
Dikett went to New Orleans, he became a coach and
coachingta down there.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
That yeah, for a long time.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
He's in the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, the state
wide Sports Hall of Fame.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
But there's there are posters up there, uh line our
drawings of Chicago and the different night spots and bars.
And you asked Danny which which one of these was
your favorite? And you kind of stumped him, didn't you.

Speaker 4 (27:50):
Well he kind of looked up, smiled and kind of.

Speaker 7 (27:52):
Went, oh, well, we are going to talk about that.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
I love stuff like that. Anyway, back to the foot Cats.
We talk a lot about the offense because that bears
more investigation. But I'm really liking what I see from
this defense. Yeah, they missed some tackles against Ole Miss,
but as Stoops pointed out, this team's gonna score more
than thirty on a lot of teams this year, and
I scored sixty three the week prior.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
I do like what I've seen in Brad White squad.
What do you see.

Speaker 4 (28:26):
Yeah, Well, the key to me is that you know,
the turnovers are back. I mean, Kentucky was a plus
two in that game Saturday, and usually you're gonna win
a lot of those games, but especially when you get
points out of both of those. They got ten points.
Should have been fourteen, but they got ten points out
of those turnovers, So you know that's back. Ty Bryant

(28:46):
was a ballhawk with those two interceptions. But yeah, this
team is really different. They get to the quarterback, good coverage, guys,
their safeties. It's gonna be you know, it'll be different again.
When Waller gets back, he gets in that great size
at the corner along with JQ. So he'll probably miss
this week as well, but I think he'll be ready, ready,

(29:10):
And uh, you know you get an off week after
this week too, So I think that's what they're hoping
with Wallers. Let's not pushing. Let's let's let this heal
one hundred percent and he gets three weeks before they
lead him again.

Speaker 1 (29:23):
This is a get well game, This was a field
this is a feel good game.

Speaker 2 (29:27):
Uh So they ought to be able to rest people,
but we're going to get a chance ideally, Jeff to
see some of these guys on the depth chart we
haven't seen much of yet, and that that'll pay off
down the road.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
I know it should, right.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
Oh yeah, this is one of those games where you
get in there's nothing like tape. Okay, I mean you
can be great in practice. Hell I was great in practice.
But you know, it's when you get into the game
and then they get you're on tape now, and they
can show you see if you would have done a
he told you and stayed on the outside, here's where

(30:02):
you should have done. And as a defensive player, you know, look,
you took the inside if you're on the outside, shoulder
and you stop this. But think things like that, and
it's so much easier when you see yourself doing it
than the coach simply telling you what to do.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
I tell you what, though, these games can be a
little dangerous. And here's why I say this. Yeah, I
remember one year Mike Archer was on staff, one of
the two times he was on staff, and Kentucky was
playing somebody a directional school ran off to a decent
lead early, but then the lead got away from him
and they were life and death to win the game.

(30:37):
But Mike told me he said in the middle of
the second quarter. He had second and third teamers standing
in front of him, cooing up saying I'm ready, coach,
I'm ready to go in like they thought, now's their time.
And the game was basically in hand, and it was
only a two score game at the time, and it
got tight down the stress.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
You got to take care of business, right.

Speaker 4 (30:58):
Exactly. You know it's you always wonder as a fan
or even reporters and stuff, gosh, why did so and
so beat this team sixty three to nothing? You know,
one's enough enough? Well the problem now in football, it's
never enough if you're up two or three scores and
you and guys have a tendency to relax, right, so

(31:19):
you put in the young guys. Well, it's hard to
turn the switch back on again after you've played for
an hour. And now you're sitting on the bench for
two series. They score fourteen points and all of a sudden,
it's twenty eight to seventeen. Well, guess well, you're back in,
you know, Dick, you're sitting on the bench and you've
got to get back up and kind of stretch a
little bit and jump right back into the game. And

(31:40):
that's really really hard to do. And there's been years
where the Kent States and the Miamis and Ohio's have
have hung with them, and you're thinking, Okay, next drive,
we're going to see those guys, and then it's the
three and out and they go down to kick a
field goal and you know, so you never know. So yes,
I hope we get to see a lot of the youngsters,
but again, and bury a team first. Then let the

(32:02):
guys play.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yeah yeah, then take your foot off their throat or
don't exact way or the other.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
Let me let me double back to what we were
talking about.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
With the receivers, the offense, the pass plays. There are
people who have been criticizing the receivers for not playing well.
And now, if we're hearing stoops correctly, obviously it's not
all on them. If the plays aren't being triggered properly,
What do you think about what you've seen from the
receivers and that was your position.

Speaker 4 (32:30):
I think it's a little of both.

Speaker 5 (32:32):
I think that.

Speaker 4 (32:35):
It's really hard the way they do things because they
have and this is what caused all the commotion right
before the half. And I think that Bush wants to
have the perfect eleven out there for every play, right,
and you just can't do that. And I think that's
kind of what I've said. You know, we as a receiver,

(32:57):
we used to run the play in. Right, you do
this and you tell Bill Ramsdell or you know whoever,
the quarterback is the play, and then you break the huddle,
you line up, and there's only really one other thing
he can do. It's run that play or check off
to one other play. Now, you know they call the
play in. You're just told. You're told. When you look

(33:20):
to the sideline, Okay, this is where I'm going. You know,
I'm in the slot, I'm on the line, I'm off
the line, I'm over here, I'm right, I'm left, I'm
twins whatever. And then you listen to the quarterback and
he tells you the route you're going to run, dip
plant whatever, he you know, calls this and then oh
wait a minute, I'm not in on this play? Is

(33:41):
what happened?

Speaker 5 (33:42):
You know?

Speaker 4 (33:43):
This is it? I've never run this. This is supposed
to be Macklin, So I better get out and get
Macklin in. Well, the problem is, if you do that
with fifteen seconds left on the clock, you're never going
to get the playoff because then the defense gets a
chance and they're going to take their sweet time getting in.
And now when he's that guy finally lines up and
the referee moves, there's three seconds on the clock. So

(34:06):
the only thing you could do is hurry up and
snap it, and then you're stuck. So that's the problem,
and that's why they had to call those two timeouts.
They didn't have the right people in well, Mark Totas,
Mark Todas Monday, he said, that's not happened anymore. Whoever's
in there, you're running the play. Yeah, you know, and
that's just what they have to do. And a lot

(34:27):
of times, you know, what if if? And for me
it was what Mark Logan's in the game instead of
Mark Kids, what's the difference? You know, just run the
damn play. You know, great to take a little bit
of that suit.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
Who was great at taking his time when the defense
can sub, as Jeff said, when the offense subs. You know,
it was great at taking his time getting on and
off the field and burning that play clock. Dion Walker,
remember when he just kind of goes sontering off with
both fists out. Sub Yeah, yeah, you know, that's the
signal for and yeah, and then he would finally take

(35:02):
his spot with two seconds left. So a little bit
of gamesmanship there, just got a minute or two left. Yeah,
with Jeff picorro Hey, the Big twelve has suspended an
officiating crew because they screwed up a rule in the
Iowa Iowa State game. I keep saying, these rules, these
these refs are held accountable, just not as publicly perhaps

(35:24):
as this crew was.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
What do you think of that?

Speaker 4 (35:27):
I think it's good. You know. The other thing that
I've always wondered, and this is more pros than it
is college, is when the game's over, why can't the
head official speak to the media. Yeah, you know, because
there's place which you said, like Mark Stoops said it
the other day. On that play, I thought the call
was that maclin had covered someone inside, but there was

(35:50):
no one inside. So he's supposed to be on the
line of scrimmage. If he's off the line, it's an
illegal place because there's no one on that site on
the Linus scrimmage covering the tackle. And so that's why
I asked Mark, Mark he was off the ball or
and the guy outside of him was on the ball.
So what was it? And Mark said, I don't know.

(36:11):
That's right, yeah, he said, So afterwards I talked to him.
He said, they did the exact same thing out of
the same formation and they didn't get called. We did
it and we got called. I want to know what
was the difference and what he's talking about. I mean,
he says those six inches. So like when you run
out there as a receiver and you point to the official,
that means I'm on the line of scrimmage. And if

(36:32):
you're you're four or five six inches off the line,
but you're twenty yards from the ball. Okay, it's not
like you're affecting the line of scrimmage, you know, like
when a tackle is back in the backfield, because you
know so they let you get away with that as
long as you're in still engaged with the guy the tackle.

(36:54):
You know, you're looking down the line, my foots on
his back sides. You're on the line the initial Let
that happen.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
And you know where I stand, generally, I'm near the ball.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
I see those receivers come out and I see them
point to the official, and that official will either nod
or they'll take their hand and like wave their hand,
like back up just a smidge or something like that.
Their official will tell them whether they are good to
go or not. Sure, but it's up like you said
to the to the receiver to initiate that communication.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
So I want to hear. I'd love to hear what happened.

Speaker 4 (37:30):
Yeah, and they'll tell you too. I remember Ben Oldham
and you know you know Ben, Sure he was he's
a supervising official, but he was. He was a back
judge when I played, Yeah, and he would talk to
us all the time, and they would tell you he
screwed up a little bit, hey, back up, back up
a step, or when I was returning to kick up,
what he does? Which way you going? And I looked

(37:51):
at him and go, what you're really asking me this?
And I go right right return, He's okay, good, And
he just wanted to know which way, you know, because
the guys come back to block and then it's blindside
blocked and things like that. He just wanted to know
you know that. Yeah, yeah, but they tell you that stuff.

(38:13):
You know they were up back yeah over here.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
You know, the officials will work with you. And I
used to call baseball and a pitcher was struggling catcher.

Speaker 2 (38:22):
Where where where was it? Where are these pitches? And
that kind of stuff that only makes the game go smoother.

Speaker 4 (38:28):
So anyhow said, well, as long as you're not showing
them up, that's right, you know, holding the ball out
there going come on, dude, that was right. You just
asked him where was it?

Speaker 1 (38:36):
That's right?

Speaker 4 (38:37):
Then you go, okay, that's right. Then you point, let's down.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
He is mister smooth is Jeff piccoryl. You'll hear him
call the game with Tom Leach on Saturday after Saturday evening. Actually,
thank you, sir, we'll see you at the bar. I
Remember two is up next with more football chatter and
my man Doug's Lynn here on six thirty.

Speaker 8 (38:53):
Go but you l a p.

Speaker 9 (39:02):
Any type sat stating anything.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
Welcome back to the Big Blue and Sider ever. Number
two of our program coming up in just a few minutes.
Doug Flynn will join us and talk about not the Reds,
not UK based well, but just sports in general because
he has been basically asked to serve as sort of
an ambassador for the city electionon when it comes to
celebrating Sports Month, that's this month September through the two

(41:13):
point fifty lex celebration of the two hund and fiftieth
anniversary of the history of our city. So Doug's going
to talk about sports of all kinds. Yeah, uk, But
a lot of other stuff coming up in just a
few minutes. I mentioned prior to the break, A big
game in the SEC, if not in the country, is Tennessee,
Georgia and The Athletic, a great website and now published

(41:38):
in The New York Times, has done a couple of
really cool stories, one of them being the fact that
Josh Haipel has had great success against everybody, it seems,
but Georgia because Kirby Smart, who knows his defense, was
a d back, was a defensive back for the Bulldogs,
and in fact picked off Peyton Manning, and Manning recently said,

(42:00):
well it should have an asterisk because the ball was deflected. Anyhow,
Kirby Smart a sad success because he has put so
much pressure defensively up front to stop the run. You
think about Tennessee, you think about spraying the ball all
over the field, but it all starts with a run game,

(42:21):
and practically every good offense does he sells out to
stop the run. But what that means is he puts
his defensive backs on an island playing man de man,
and they put pressure on the Tennessee quarterback, whoever it
might be, so that that guy cannot get comfortable and
try to take advantage of any mismatches in the defensive secondary. Now,

(42:43):
when you're Georgia, you get the best defensive backs in
the country, so you can do that. It's not a
slide on anybody else. But your talent pool is really deep,
at least it should be if you're Georgia, and it
has been of late. But Georgia Tennessee, as great a
series as it's been, is not a favorite among Tennessee

(43:06):
fans or Georgia fans. And in fact, when the Athletic
surveyed readers last month, because we still don't know who
permanent opponents will be when they go to nine games,
Tennessee fans at a ninety seven percent clip said they
prefer Alabama. And I knew that the Tennessee fans have

(43:29):
always considered Bama their chief rival. Even Obama considers at
Auburn number two on the list for Tennessee fans. Of
course Vanderbilt, and it's so great when my man Darren
Hedrick is a Tennessee grad.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
Talks about Vandy.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
Oh my gosh, off the air, of course, just his
attitude in general, you can tell as a Tennessee vall
deep down does not care for Vandy. Number three on
the list was Kentucky at sixty percent. Sixty percent of
Tennessee fans want to see Kentucky as a permanent.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
Opponent on their schedule. I haven't seen as many Kentucky fans.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
Obviously, it's got to be because Tennessee is dominated of
late I can't imagine Kentucky not playing Tennessee every year.
But after that, Tennessee fans dropped down to Florida at
thirty nine percent. That was a great rivalry when Spurrier
was there because there were great Tennessee teams at the time,
great Florida teams, and of course Spurrier Needling, volunteer fans Nation,

(44:33):
whatever you want.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
To call it.

Speaker 2 (44:34):
So, Georgia Tennessee is gonna be big, just like it's
been big throughout many other seasons. Herschel walker in nineteen
eighty and the season opener ran over Bill Bates, the
defensive back went on to play for the Cowboys. Georgia
was down fifteen nothing, came back and won at sixteen
fifteen and went on to win the national championship. In

(44:57):
twenty oh one, the Hobnail Boot Game, Georgia upset Tennessee
in Nayland Stadium. Tennessee rank number six at the time.
Closing seconds, Bulldogs needed something good to happen and listen
to how Larry Munson described it.

Speaker 6 (45:13):
Tennis second square on their sixth Michael Johnson turned around
and asked the bench something and now bringing Mixon lineup
on the right the slot. We have three receiver Tennessee
playing with around to a four o'course right and there's
a cut down.

Speaker 10 (45:33):
My god, I've got that.

Speaker 4 (45:34):
We talked to it, we thought, I hang, we go
stumped up.

Speaker 8 (45:38):
A five second clib My.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
God, might he did?

Speaker 5 (45:42):
You see what he did?

Speaker 10 (45:43):
David Greener straightened up and we rocked the fall black.

Speaker 5 (45:47):
Over angers keeping the ball.

Speaker 6 (45:49):
Hangers come running all.

Speaker 5 (45:51):
The way across of the fence.

Speaker 6 (45:53):
We just stumped it over twenty six to twenty four.

Speaker 7 (45:56):
We just stepped on their face.

Speaker 5 (45:58):
What a hot nail do? No?

Speaker 10 (46:01):
What do you just watch her?

Speaker 5 (46:03):
Faith?

Speaker 1 (46:05):
I just love it. I just love that call.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
I love his run Lindsay call as well breaks every
rule in the book when it comes to sportscasting. Now
because he was such a homer.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
But that didn't matter. It probably wouldn't matter today. I
hope not.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
You got to hope a guy like Larry Munson would
still have a chance to call ball games. I'll come
back to Larry in just a minute, because his career
I thought was fascinating.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
But I'm talking about the.

Speaker 2 (46:30):
Series between Georgia Tennessee, the Great Games. Three years after
the Hobnail Boot Game, Tennessee ended Georgia's national title hopes
by pulling off a nineteen fourteen win in Athens. And
then in twenty sixteen, you might remember the Josh Dobbs
Hail Mary Game. Georgia fans thought they'd won the game

(46:52):
on a long touchdown pass two plays earlier, but then
Josh Dobbs went to work for the vault. Now here's
the call from my buddy, Bob Kessling, the former radio
voice of the Tennessee Vauls, just retired prior to this year.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
The call of the Georgia touchdown.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
Tennessee had the lead with nineteen seconds left, and Georgia
goes deep to win it. Then Tennessee gets a good
kick return and comes back from just beyond midfield behind
Josh Dobbs to return the favors. So the two calls
from Bob Kessling.

Speaker 11 (47:26):
Now nineteen seconds to its Tennessee victory. But they gotta
gonna stop. Asa back to throw sets up, steps up,
Looks borrowing on on left sideline. The passes gone Hof
for Georgia touchdown. Ayson bombs it down the field. Now
that Georgia Bullbocks get a light touchdown to Riley Redley

(47:47):
fifty three yards. Unbelievable Ayson. It shows off that big
beg Arma has as they ran behind the Tennessee second
there right and Roley Ridley, a fresh went from Cocaonut Creek, Florida,
fixed the touchdown catch, the first of his career. His

(48:08):
first catch for Georgia is the Bulldogs lead thirty twenty eight.
They can get the ball about ten yards, Bentley would
be in.

Speaker 10 (48:16):
Field goal range. Georgia thinks they're born in long four
seconds to go. Game's on the line here thirty one
twenty eight.

Speaker 11 (48:25):
Georgia tops out of the shut gun back to drow
Dobbs drops back, Looks.

Speaker 10 (48:30):
Roads up fires long for the end zone. The pass
is gonna be got Tennisee stay.

Speaker 11 (48:36):
By Tennessee to Want Jennings. Jennings makes the catch of
the end zone of the hail Mary.

Speaker 10 (48:42):
What a turn of events.

Speaker 11 (48:45):
Georgian throws a bomb, Tennessee comes back and throws the
hail mary as the pass from Chash Dobbs and the
end zone for a score in the last play of
the game. To Want Jennings with the touchdown and Tennessee wins.

Speaker 10 (49:01):
I don't believe I saw that.

Speaker 2 (49:04):
It's not hyperbole to say that was one of the
wildest finishes in the history of Southeastern Conference football. And
I remember we were, of course working the Kentucky game,
but we heard about what had happened. I couldn't wait
to see the video and I thought, Bob.

Speaker 1 (49:20):
Castling it again. I'm terribly biased.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
He's a good buddy, but I thought he did a
great job calling those plays. And if you're a Tennessee fan, well,
both fan bases the roller coaster ride of emotions, and
by the way, that game was in Georgia, so the
shots of the Tennessee fans stunned at first, the ones
who got in the stadium and then the Georgia fans

(49:43):
who were stunned, just incredible. By the way, a couple
of years ago, Tennessee came in unbeaten to this game
Josh Heipel's first year Stetson Bennett, Georgia's defense said, stand aside, kids,
we're on our way to our second straight national title.
And by the way, to his credit, Lane Kiffen, during
his only season at Tennessee as a head coach in

(50:06):
twenty nine, he called Georgia the program's biggest game because
the Valls recruited so many players from that state, and
a decade earlier, Tennessee had won the national title Jamal Lewis,
Dion Grant, a couple other players from Georgia. So it's
important for Tennessee to maintain a high profile in the

(50:28):
state of Georgia. But it's hard to do when the
Bulldogs keep winning. And by the way, that year in nine,
Kiffin's team did beat Georgia, but then Kiffin left, replaced
by Derek Dooley, and things really got away. Derek Dooley
was the coach when Kentucky snapped the losing skid to Tennessee. Duley,

(50:50):
now running for the US Senate whether he wins or not,
UK fans don't care because they love the fact that
the Wildcats finally and that their losing skid to the
Tennessee vall up next Doug Flynn on six thirty WLAP.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
Now I remember very well that the old Lee died.

Speaker 12 (51:07):
Coming in well, Flexorry and and manson around in Prime.

Speaker 10 (51:11):
Now do these are the mountain?

Speaker 8 (51:13):
They're all along. They put a Chuck Bee sign him
in the medal for ust home do Lease looking up
Holler Doe trying to make it dolland League, give me
Asmara Payback Snday, Beta Payback Sunday.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
Welcome back to the Big Brings.

Speaker 2 (51:31):
Sider joining us down our celebrity hotline is a longtime
broadcast colleague and a good friend, mister Doug Flynn.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
Ordinarily we are together on the UK Baseball broadcast talking
about the Wildcats, but he has kind of a.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
Special mission this month, especially this week. As you know,
this is the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the
City of Lexington, two fifty lex uh celebrating and this
is sports is actually the theme for the month of September. Doug,
and you are the ambassador, the sports ambassador for two

(52:04):
fifty les and we.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Have been talking off and on. Actually last week we
spent a lot of time talking about the fact that
it's not just a UK town.

Speaker 2 (52:13):
Certainly it is, but there's a lot of other stuff
that's going on. We've had state high school championships in
football and basketball, and great coaches and things like that.
So when you look beyond UK, there's a lot more,
isn't there.

Speaker 5 (52:28):
Yeah, there really is, Gabe, And thanks for having me on, buddy.
You've met it's, you know, being an ambassador and we
didn't even have any boats. So that's pretty cool, isn't it.

Speaker 1 (52:38):
Well done? Well done.

Speaker 5 (52:40):
So, But when you look back on the history of
all the sports, and of course very obviously for me,
I go to baseball and the Lexington Hustlers, which was
like a pro team, I guess because guys got paid
by passing the hat. Yeah, but Lexington also has had
other things like Randy Demacho Man Savvage started his rest
career right here in lever Much. Yeah. Yeah, You've got

(53:04):
great golfers that have come out of here, like Gay
Brewer and Johnny Owens, who is one of the best
amateurs ever. Mayra Blackwelder played pro Marion Miley, great golfers, tennis,
Dennis Embry, and we've held the Lexington Pro Tournament here. Uh,
we had hockey in this town, the Kentucky Thoroughblades. What
about the great sportscasters that have gone on to national

(53:26):
prominence like Tom Hammond, Kenny, Rice, Michae Lee's you ought
to be on that list to That's all I got said,
thank you.

Speaker 7 (53:34):
And then if you think about the Olympics, well.

Speaker 5 (53:36):
Hey, how about the fabulous five Yeah, Tyson gay Steddhon Cloughland.
I mean, there's just Lexington has been filled with a
lot of really good athletes that have either gone on
or have stayed here and played. And I think it's
it's pretty cool with all the things that we're celebrating
about Lexing. Then, of course you're from Louisville. I'm from here,

(53:56):
but I guess I am a little parcel to house
school Lexington.

Speaker 2 (54:00):
I'm speaking of Olympics, she got what about Lee Keefer
three time Olympic champion fencer. You know while she was
going to UK, well first she was in high school
and then going to UK med school. I mean, that's
an amazing story out of the city and really is Yeah.

Speaker 5 (54:14):
And you know what's really good is, even though you
might not know much about that sport, once you know
somebody that they're and they're local and they've either gone
to UK or born and raised from it, you're going
to give it a little bit more attention. And I
think that's pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (54:27):
Yeah, I agree. I agree.

Speaker 2 (54:30):
We were talking on the air last week with Jeff
of Coral about some of the great high school coaches
and I know you played. People don't realize you played
high school football at Bryan Station. I think you're a quarterback, correct,
I was.

Speaker 5 (54:44):
That wasn't very good. Well, I had a really good
fullback that I could hand the ball off too, and
he gained a lot of yards and our defense was good,
so we Franklin Maaster was a fullback who went home,
played ten years in the NFL and played at UK.
So you know, my coach was Dan Hayley and he
went on to win state titles with a couple other

(55:05):
teams after he left Brian's Station. But yeah, this time, and.

Speaker 7 (55:11):
You know, in the old days, we.

Speaker 5 (55:12):
Would all try to play as many sports as we could, sure,
and each coach would encourage you to do that. I
think now it's probably not so much. They want you
to go play some or this and some or that.
And you know, I think the only time in your
life where you can play different sports is when you're
in high school. And for me, each one helped me

(55:33):
for the other. So I'm very thankful I got to
do that.

Speaker 1 (55:36):
And what year did you graduate? Brian Station?

Speaker 5 (55:40):
Eighteen o four, nineteen sixty nine.

Speaker 2 (55:45):
Okay, because this a couple of years later, Brian Station
won a state championship.

Speaker 5 (55:50):
And I was exactly right.

Speaker 1 (55:52):
I told Jeffy, yeah last week.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
But do you know what that Brian Station team one
of its victims that year was my Trinity Shamrocks.

Speaker 5 (56:00):
Oh, I'm so sorry.

Speaker 4 (56:01):
I in Louisville.

Speaker 2 (56:02):
I believe the final score because I was there for
the school paper. Sixth to nothing.

Speaker 1 (56:08):
Bryan Station.

Speaker 2 (56:09):
D Lineman plucked the deflected pass out of the air
and ran it in for a touchdown. And you guys
beat us on your way to a state championship.

Speaker 1 (56:17):
How about that?

Speaker 10 (56:18):
Wow?

Speaker 5 (56:19):
Well, I know the year we got beat before Thomas
Higlands year they were really good.

Speaker 1 (56:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (56:24):
The next year, Franklin Master and those boys got beat
by uh BUSCASTI.

Speaker 7 (56:30):
Ernie from Elizabethtown came on to.

Speaker 5 (56:34):
Kentucky little Football Ernie Lewis and they Ernie Lewis and
then it might have been a year after that that
they won.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
The seven schools in the city that have won a
total of eight state championships. Uh, the city school well,
Brian Station, Taatee, Greek, Henry Clay Douglas as one of
state title Sayer jumped up last year and one title
lection and Christian Lexing and Catholics win a couple. So yeah,

(57:06):
there's a lot of high school football you can talk about.
We're talking with Doug Flynn. He is basically the ambassador
for two fifty legs with September is Sports Month, and
as we said, obviously UK very important to this community.
But there's a lot more to it than that, including
some great players who have come through the city.

Speaker 1 (57:26):
And you mentioned Franklin Master. He's on the list. There's
an unscientific survey of sportscasters and sports writers, but yeah,
frank was on that list.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
Topped off by Derminti Dawson speaking of Brian's Station. Not
too great guy too, I mean great person and a
great player.

Speaker 5 (57:44):
Yeah, absolutely was. You know, our school in those years
were putting out some pretty good athletes, Jack Gibbons being
one of them.

Speaker 4 (57:51):
That's right.

Speaker 5 (57:53):
But they had a lot of the kids that started
to playing football that went to Brown Station ended up
going on to the UK having nice careers and now
their kids are at UK and it's fun to watch
how that happened. But Lexington was very blessed in an
araback in the sixties, seventies, eighties, and I'm sure they

(58:13):
are now. Time will tell, But we had some really
quality coaches in every sport yep.

Speaker 7 (58:20):
And I say that they weren't only concerned.

Speaker 5 (58:22):
About your athletic ability, but you know, they wanted to
develop as a good young man as well.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
One of the guys who made the list as one
of the top coaches was Bob Speier, and I don't
know if you ever got to know Bob at all.
He was a really excellent coach and a good guy
to talk to and deal with. He went on to
coach the Lexing and Horsemen, the indoor football team that
was a lot of fun. I remember Dusty Bonner was
the quarterback for that team that actually won a league

(58:48):
championship indoor football playing in rupp Arena, and I wish
they could have kept it here, you know, finances being
what they were, but that particularly, I remember the players
telling me that players from around the league and it
was pretty much nationwide would come to Lexon.

Speaker 1 (59:07):
And they really loved playing in rupp Arena because.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
It was such a great facility and they were like, hey,
how can we get on your team? So Lexingon for
a while there in one of those indoor football leagues
was sort of the hub for quality indoor football.

Speaker 1 (59:22):
I love that stuff.

Speaker 5 (59:24):
Did Jared Lorenzo play on that team?

Speaker 1 (59:27):
Yeah he played. It was a different league, but yeah
he played.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
I don't know if he played for the Lexington team
and the one from up in northern Kentucky, but but yeah,
he got famous again for playing in that league. So yeah,
it was a lot of fun. And uh, you know
we mentioned horse racing. You got Keenland. The Breeders Cup
has been here, which I never thought they'd be able
to pull it off, and boy they did in a

(59:50):
spectacular way. And one of the great things too is
the fact that Kenny McPeak, who last year, as you know,
won a derby run the Oaks on Friday, the Derby
on Saturday and is a election and Native Tates Creek
product and a UK grad and now.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
He went to school pick he sure is that right here?

Speaker 11 (01:00:12):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:00:12):
Now he's got the greatest Philly in the country in
Thorpedo Anna. But I guess it's not a surprise, is
it that we've got somebody like that and a horse
like that coming.

Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
Out of election.

Speaker 5 (01:00:22):
No, it's good to see because you know it's right
here in front of you. You know, we also got
the Red Mile too, and that thing has been or
had to red. I remember going over there a lot
and watching those ponies. I think Sam Bowie, great basketball player,
uh got involved with that. Uh. So yeah, you'd think
with a lot more kids would get into that business.

(01:00:42):
But as you know, that is a tough business to
get into. My buddy Russy Arnold is still training and
he had a big stakes with not too long ago
with the Bryant station and he kind of following in
his father's footsteps. So you know, I just think we've
been very, very blessed in this town that if there
is a sport, somebody in town is probably gonna be

(01:01:03):
pretty good at it and it's gonna pick up pretty easily.

Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
We're talking to Doug Flynn.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
He is basically unofficially renamed him the ambassador for two
fifty elex dot com, where two fifty Alexa should say,
you can go to the website at two fifty elexa
dot com because we are celebrating the two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of Lexing at all year long. September is
the sports Month. And we'll come back and talk more
with Doug in just a minute on six point thirty

(01:01:28):
WLAP Welcome back. We're talking with Doug Flynn in our
celebrity hotline, and tonight it's not about the UK Baseball,
it's about the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the
city of Lexingon Doug's been around here for about half
of that, and we're talking about the fact that September
is sports month. That's a year long celebration. And I'll
tell you something, Doug that I think is so important.

(01:01:50):
And I know how much you love this event and
you and your dad and you bring your wife every
now and then to the Sweet sixteen. You have been
a huge support order and you know, for the longest
time it was in Louisville and high school basketball was
kind of dying on the vine.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
A little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
But one of the things that helped fortify it was
Rupperina hosting The Sweet Sixteen. And it went back and
forth to Louisville now and then, and it's pretty much
in Rupperina now for the time being.

Speaker 1 (01:02:20):
And it revitalized the Sweet Sixteen, didn't it.

Speaker 5 (01:02:24):
It really did. My dad and mom were going so
many years. I went as a kid, and then when
I started playing professionally, I was gone for fifteen years,
so I missed a lot. But every time i'd go
away to spring training, I'd.

Speaker 7 (01:02:39):
Call home and say, Okay, I need to know give
me some score, cause I.

Speaker 5 (01:02:44):
You know, I really loved watching it. I loved hearing
about it. There was so many years where the play
was just unbelievably good. Yeah, and so like I remember
the days going to Louisville and watching Hustle and Butch
Beard and all of those guys playing take It Go.
They're good. Then Mike Casey and they went there with

(01:03:06):
Jebbey County. And then when I got through playing ball,
my mom, I'll never forget. She says, all right, she says,
you're going to see a little kid tonight. He wears
number thirty two. He's only a junior, but he's really good.
I'm going, yeah, yeah, yeah. So he come out the
first quarter and he doesn't score points, and I'm thinking,

(01:03:26):
and when Clay County first walked out on the floor,
I thought, are you kidding me? This team is supposed
to be good by the end of the half. I
think Russell Chadwell had sixteen in the first half or
the first quarter. Ritchie scored sixteen to the second quarter.
And if you watched them, there's no way you couldn't
be a fan. And especially you remember when they played

(01:03:48):
Allen Houston in Rup and it was full Yeah, yeah,
no that year. They played them both years.

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
Okay, okay, I thought they did Sharon Louisville.

Speaker 7 (01:03:58):
No, they beat them up here and then yeah because here.

Speaker 1 (01:04:02):
They want to stay. Yeah, they want to stayed in
Rupp and then lost at the Ballard in Louisville.

Speaker 5 (01:04:08):
That's right. Yeah, And you know, go ahead, no, but
that right there, when you see them fill that place, yeah,
you know, I mean, it was just amazing to see
that many people come from everywhere, all across the country,
and there were people sitting in enough that had writings,
newspaper clippings, from like back in the nineteen fifties, and

(01:04:30):
they would bring them soon to my mom when she's
and my dad, and of course my mom was going
she went sixty or seventy straight years, you know, since
she was in Hotpool.

Speaker 8 (01:04:39):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (01:04:40):
You know, I remember watching that Clay County team because
I was at the Sweet sixteen, you know, off and
on I was. I was working NCA Radio Network, so
I would miss the Sweet sixteen sometimes, but I was
there that year and I sat in the end zone.
I think I had just gotten to WKYT and I
had worked so many of them for WVLK Radio. But
I'm sitting in the end his own seats. And so

(01:05:00):
when Clay County came out, it would have been to
your right from where you sit. Came out of that tunnel,
and they came running out, and Doug, it seemed like
it was the same kid over and over, the six
you know what I mean, the same six to one kid,
and for some reason, half of them looked like they
were twenty five years old, like Richie did uh.

Speaker 1 (01:05:19):
And I'm like you, I thought, and I'd heard boy,
you know, Clay County, the.

Speaker 2 (01:05:23):
King of the thirteenth Region again has won so many
regional titles, and I remember thinking, really that's Clay County,
but boy could they play and they had.

Speaker 7 (01:05:33):
Well, Bobby, you talking about coaches in that area, How.

Speaker 5 (01:05:36):
Good was Bobby Keith?

Speaker 11 (01:05:37):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (01:05:37):
Exactly, I mean, and Bobby Keith was such a disciplinarian
with those guys. I mean, they did exactly what he
wanted them to do.

Speaker 1 (01:05:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:05:46):
But do you know the story about before the final
game and the year they won in eighty seven? I
think maybe the year and my dad. I was once
with my dad and Bobby Keith was pacing outside of
the locker room, and so went by and he said, hey, Bobby,
good luck tonight. And he said all right. He said,
have you met Doug my Son? He went, are you
a baseball player? I said, yester. He said, come in

(01:06:07):
here and take a couple of words. So I'm thinking good,
and I said, get ready to play in the finals
championship game. There's twenty four thousand people there. So I
walked in the room and I had my cowboy boots
on that night and I'm looking hold a toe with
every single game there I had that night, and I
just told him, I said, hey, guys, I said the

(01:06:29):
twenty four thousand people out there that are pulling for
you guys and U and they came out. Of course
they won. Well. The next year they go back in
Louisville and I see Bobby Tith early in the tournament.
He said, if we get those finals, you better be
in that locker room for the last game. So I was,
and I went in. I'll never forget Richie telling me,

(01:06:50):
he said, because they had a tough game up I
think with PRP that morning and he said, Doug, I
can't fill my legs. Really, he said, I got nothing
and he scores.

Speaker 7 (01:07:02):
Watched fifty one, Yeah, something like that.

Speaker 5 (01:07:05):
Yeah. So I mean there was some kids who watched
playball and they're just winners. And I think Ritchie was
one of those guys. He was just the winner. And
the way he played with Russ and box In with
the call him and chadwell, everybody had a job to do,

(01:07:25):
and it was amazing. They were like a machine, or
they were a well over machine.

Speaker 2 (01:07:30):
And you know, I like to think that, and I
don't think this is overstating it. There was so much
talk in the seventies and it started popping up again
about classifying basketball, which would have destroyed high school basketball
in the state of Kentucky the way they ruined it
in the state of Indiana, you know, but they saved
the Sweet sixteen with the All A Tournament in my opinion,
but yeah, also playing it in election and for what

(01:07:52):
And again, I'm from Louisville. I grew up going to
Freedom Hall like you did and watching games there. But
for some reason it had lost some of its luster
and it was re stored. I guess maybe people just
would rather go to Rupp Arena. I don't know why,
but it became and then you remember, well you were gone.
But in the early eighties, of course, Dirk Minifield's team

(01:08:12):
is seventy nine, and then you had, yeah, you know,
Todd May's Virgie teams and those Mason County teams when
the place was jam packed, and it really I think,
save the Sweet sixteen moving into election. And so I
think that's a great chapter in the two hundred and
fifty year history of our city.

Speaker 5 (01:08:29):
I would agree with you, you know, I'm not sure
we'll ever get to that point again, even though you
would like for it too, because it's a different generation.
There's different things going on in those in those days
when a team would play on a Friday night, the place,
all the gyms would be packed. You couldn't get in.
I know. It's not like that around electing to now

(01:08:51):
maybe not around the state. However, this year, when you
see a small team come in, maybe from the mountains
or maybe from a place around central Kentucky, they would
fill it up. Yeah, and it's just a little comfort
you get lectioned. In Lobelle, they don't seem to fill
it up as much, but still there's there's some great
players that are playing. And that's I think people, if

(01:09:13):
you know this, then you ought to come out and
support it. But you know, they do such a good job.
My ass off to Julian and now Brian Milein is
going to be going over there.

Speaker 1 (01:09:22):
That's right.

Speaker 5 (01:09:23):
So so Brian, if you're listening, don't go screw it up. Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:09:27):
Well, you know, and a lot of it too, is
just fortuitous by nature.

Speaker 2 (01:09:32):
I mean, Mason County either it had never been or
hadn't been in forever to the Sweet sixteen, and the
running joke was the last person out of the county
turn off the lights because they filled that arena. But
Virgie brought a lot of folks. So it depends on
you know, if it's a small school, you know they're
not going to bring a lot of folks. But just
just the entire week, I mean, it's it's so great

(01:09:53):
and it really puts our city on display. And like
I said, the fact that they were able to say
basketball with the LA and then and keep the Sweet
Sixteen the way it is and when it's in Lexingon,
it's just so much fun. And we also have to
throw in the fact that UK bids on NCAA tournaments,

(01:10:14):
and by that, I mean when the nca tournaments come
to rupp Arena, that's because UK has put in a
bid offering to host. And when you do that, you
are putting up all your employees like, hey, folks, we're hosting,
so we're gonna be spread thin.

Speaker 1 (01:10:31):
But everybody's got a job to do.

Speaker 2 (01:10:33):
And I think putting Lexi just puts Lexi in right
back on the national picture, even if Kentucky and well,
Kentucky's always going to be off playing somewhere else. But
when the NCAA tournament's in town, I think that's special
as well.

Speaker 5 (01:10:46):
Well, you know, not only that, I mean we're sports
stand because people love tocome, the facility of outstanding, the
local restaurants. We've got some really great players to go eat.

Speaker 1 (01:10:56):
That's right.

Speaker 5 (01:10:57):
But I've heard not only that, because of the facilities
that we have here, everybody that comes in and does
a concert says it has some of the best sound
that they've ever heard. So you know they're filling up
with that as well. Uh. But you know, I'm like you.
I love seeing those big events come and I like
going to them. I went to a few of the
n C Double A games.

Speaker 7 (01:11:18):
Yeah, they're fun to go to.

Speaker 1 (01:11:20):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (01:11:21):
You know, I'm still not used to this electronic saying
that you got to get it. I want to kick it,
kick it to get in this crazy game.

Speaker 7 (01:11:30):
Well you go ahead, No, you I'm true, I'm random.

Speaker 2 (01:11:36):
I was gonna say, if you go to the website,
if you go to two fifty lex dot com, you
will see, uh, some of the unscientific surveys though, but
the lists of memorable UK home games topped by that
upset win over LSU, which was my all time favorite.

Speaker 1 (01:11:52):
But you know, it's fun to go back and look
at some.

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
Of those games as well as high school coaches, high
school players, and the fact that Yeah, we do have
a lot of great people in moments that have come
from this town and people we can be proud of,
like Doug Flynn.

Speaker 1 (01:12:08):
Born and raised and an owner of two World Series rings.
Can't leave that out right.

Speaker 5 (01:12:15):
Yeah, that you're talking about timing, that's a good timing
right there, Ill people, fourteen years, I only had two
good spring trainings. One of them I'm thankful because it
helped me to make the club and the other one
was my last one when I got released.

Speaker 7 (01:12:34):
Wow helped Wow.

Speaker 5 (01:12:36):
So yeah, but it was when you go to spring training,
there's a lot of stuff that can happen, but there's
nobody any more blissed or fortunate to me. And it's
like Johnny Bench said, we were down at camp was
Zoom a couple of weeks ago, and it was so
cool because we've gone in some guys that played Navy
Seals on TV. We had a lot of other celebrities.

Speaker 7 (01:12:57):
There and we raised are you Ready for this Game?

Speaker 5 (01:13:02):
Raised nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars for men and women,
and it was just so cool to watch people step
up and do this and to spend time with all
these wounded guys. But yeah, you know that, and like
Johnny says, he said, nobody has Milt two World Series
any more than Doug Glann has.

Speaker 1 (01:13:25):
I said, thank you, and you're happy to do so. Brother,
Thank you so much, and then we'll talk again soon,
I hope.

Speaker 5 (01:13:32):
Thank you, my friend.

Speaker 2 (01:13:34):
I want to come on the Big Booming Sider here
on six thirty wlap. Welcome back to the Big Booing Sider.
It is Kentucky Eastern Michigan coming up Saturday. Wildcats need
a good performance going into the bye week so they'll
know exactly what to work on, what else to work
on going back into conference play. But you might remember
Eastern Michigan was the team Kentucky played back in twenty

(01:13:57):
nineteen when Terry Wilson was injured. Terry looks like sitting
on a big season, and in that game he was,
as I recall, he was kind of scrambling to the
right and a tackler grabbed him kind of a horse
collar thing by the back of the jersey and he
came down awkwardly and he blew his knee. And that

(01:14:17):
meant Sawyer Smith had to be had to step in
and play quarterback, and he was doing okay, but against Florida,
he threw a pick, went to tackle the receiver. He
actually made the tackle, but he heard his wrist and
that was really the beginning of the end for Sawyer Smith.
But that led to Lynn Bowden and the Wildcat. They

(01:14:39):
started Smith against South Carolina down on the road and
it just wasn't working. So they finally inserted Lynn Bowden,
who was the backup QB that night, and he did well.
He ran all over South Carolina. It was just too
late and so he was too far behind. So they
began to play Lynn Boden at QB and against Arkansas

(01:15:00):
here in town, he accounted for three touchdowns as a
quarter as the starter, including the go ahead touchdown run
of twenty four yards inside seven minutes left, and Kentucky
came from thirteen to nothing down to beat Arkansas twenty
four to twenty.

Speaker 1 (01:15:18):
It was really incredible watching this guy take over. But
that was in twenty nineteen. That was the Lynn Boden
season and this was his first game as a starter
against Arkansas.

Speaker 2 (01:15:30):
Ran for one hundred and ninety six yards on twenty
four carries, threw the ball eleven times, hit seven for
seventy eight yards, and people forget aj Rose at a
big year that year as well. He ran for ninety
yards on sixteen carries against Arkansas. And as much as
everybody likes to throw the football, they loved watching Lynn

(01:15:51):
Boden run the ball, and they liked aj Rose as well.
And Kentucky that night on the ground three hundred and
thirty yards to just one eighty three for Arkansas. But
that all started in twenty nineteen Eastern Michigan. The win

(01:16:12):
over the Eagles led to eventually Lynn Bowden taking over
a QB for the Kentucky Wildcats. One of the other
stories out there is Ohio State maybe angling to get
a bigger piece of the pie from the Big Ten.
Last year, each school in the Big Ten got seventy

(01:16:34):
five million dollars thanks to a huge TV revenue payout.
Leagues got a billion dollar deal with Fox, NBC and
CBS Oregon and Washington. The new members last year got
less because they were the newbies on the block. But
everybody else they all cashed in, but everybody else cashed

(01:16:56):
in bigger now. Ohio State President Ted Carter did an
interview with USA Today and was asked specifically about a
future model that could see unequal payments like they have
in the ACC. Remember, the ACC had to do that
in order to keep Florida State and Clemson. And at

(01:17:18):
first he answered diplomatically, I don't want to get into
conversations like that. But the more they kind of pressed
him on it, he mentioned the fact that that weekend,
at the opening weekend, Tended Texas and Ohio State broke
college football ratings records.

Speaker 1 (01:17:36):
Now, you can't assume that that's going to be the
case every week every year, but when you get ratings
numbers like that, you better believe they're going to make
a lot out of it.

Speaker 2 (01:17:47):
So a subsequent question led to this guy, the president
at Ohio State basically saying that's not up to me
to decide.

Speaker 1 (01:17:58):
But again it's a non denial denial. Now here's the rub.
Clemson and Florida State threatened to leave the league. What
Ohio State do the same thing. What Ohio State threatened
to leave the Big Ten if it didn't get more
money than the other members. And you know, damn good

(01:18:18):
and well, if Ohio State gets more, Michigan will demand
every bit as much to the dollar as Ohio State.

Speaker 2 (01:18:29):
So there may be some restlessness at the top of
the Big ten By. Earlier I mentioned Larry Munson, a
legendary announcer for the Georgia Bulldogs.

Speaker 1 (01:18:41):
I did not know this.

Speaker 2 (01:18:42):
He's from Minneapolis, but began his career well before he
get into his career. He was a US Army medic
in World War Two. But when he got home, he
got into radio in North Dakota and Devil's Lake, North Dakota.
Also worked in Cheyenne, Wyoming. That's where he met Kurt Out.
Many of you remember that name, and Kurt God. He

(01:19:02):
helped him get some important gigs, and he worked his
way to Atlanta, actually worked his way to Nashville, talked
WSM Radio into broadcasting Vanderbilt Commodore's basketball games with him
as the announcer. Ended up in Atlanta doing Braves games,
and when the Georgia Bulldog's job opened up, he called
the athletics director and said, hey, why don't.

Speaker 1 (01:19:22):
You hire me?

Speaker 2 (01:19:23):
And they did and the rest is radio history got
to do for now thanks to Jeff Picoro, thanks to
Doud Flynn.

Speaker 1 (01:19:30):
That's it. Good night from the garage in Lexington.

Speaker 6 (01:19:33):
We could stump it over twenty four summer faith What
about hot flood.

Speaker 12 (01:19:42):
Dude, trying to make a dollar, a payback some.

Speaker 10 (01:19:48):
Day revenue game morning him from men new.

Speaker 12 (01:19:53):
The word Julie kept behind them all they have never
lost the good. Now you turney Tom sugar fi Wu Shaman,
glance and find the drum.

Speaker 1 (01:20:04):
Now I remember very well.

Speaker 10 (01:20:06):
And they old you.

Speaker 8 (01:20:07):
Lee died going in m sorry, and the minister around
and cry, now.

Speaker 10 (01:20:12):
Do these aren't a mountain by there?

Speaker 8 (01:20:14):
All along they put a jug feat side him in
the mad of forrest Home?

Speaker 12 (01:20:19):
Do Lee looking up?

Speaker 7 (01:20:21):
Holler?

Speaker 8 (01:20:21):
Do Lee try to make a dollar to leave? Give
me a swater in a payback. Some day I get
a payback.

Speaker 10 (01:20:28):
Sunday